Darling
by Sylime
Summary: Mob bosses, murder, secrets and sexual tension. Bella's in too deep and by the time she figures it out, it's gonna be too late. Can she survive the fall, or will someone be there to catch her? *Not for Jacob lovers* AH/AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Twilight characters, Stephenie Meyer does. **

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**Glossary of Slang:**

**Plate (China plate) – Mate**  
**Grasshoppers – Coppers (Police)**  
**Two-thirty – Dirty**  
**Blag (Blagging) – to bluff or to lie. (East London slang for a robbery)**  
**Suit – Business Men**  
**Booster – somebody who steals cars (from the term to boost a car)**

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**Edward's Point of View**

My knuckles were white, clenched so tightly against the steering wheel. I couldn't bring myself to look at her. If her perfume wasn't already clogging the humid air, you would have been able to smell the disappointment. I breathed in through my nose, the smell burning my eyes. I closed them, to get rid of the burn, and concentrated on slowly relaxing my hands, releasing them from the black leather wheel. I opened my eyes and stared straight ahead. As the natural light was dimming, the artificial light from casinos began to penetrated the skies, tasteless and tacky.

"Look Rose..." I pulled my courage together to look at her. She hid her emotions well. She wasn't looking at me, instead stared straight out the wind-shield, pale skin smooth, not even a furrow in her brow, lips pursed in what looked like thought. If you didn't know her well, you would have have mistaken the look for indecision. Unfortunately, I knew Rosalie well. And she was_ pissed_.

"Look Rose..." She mimicked me in a slow, low tone. "_Look Rose! _And what am I too see Edward?" She turned her head towards me, the calm, smooth mask was still on her face, but her eyes gave away her true feelings. Ice blue in anger, but surrounded by a dark blue ring of turmoil of what I have asked of her. I had upset her. Greatly.

She quickly turned away from me, away from my pitying stare, leaning back into the seat closing her eyes. She sighed once in defeat.

I had won.

But in reality, I had lost. And I was still losing.

"Have you found anything?" She whispered, unmoving. Her voice had now lost its monotone, sadness creeping in.

"Nothing." I whispered back, hiding my frustration. "Nothing but dead ends and false markers."

"They're good."

"They're _good!?"_ I raised my voice, my anger seeping through.

"Yes. They are." She replied turning to me, finally opening her eyes. Now the ice blue had melted to a light blue filled with sadness. Her face was devoid of emotion. Rosalie never rose to the bait. In all the years I've known her, never once did her raise her voice, stomp her feet or let slip the detached mask of calm. "They _are_ good Edward, because for all we know they did it, we still do not have proof. No, course they are not good _good._ But they're good at dodgy dealings, they're good at blagging and they're pretty fucking good at murder."

Rosalie was blunt. That's was what caught my attention first about her. It wasn't her long legs, or her curly blonde hair, red lips or blue eyes. Yeah, I noticed all that, but that's not what I liked about her. In fact, there wasn't much I liked about Rosalie. But what I did like, is that she told you straight. She didn't lie. Ever. If the your new jacket made you look fat, she'd be the one to tell you.

"Police officers die, witnesses never show, and the Volturi _always _walk-"

"No! _Fuck_, Rose! They are good. But we're better! Your the best booster along the whole bleedin' West Coast! Jasper is the best fighter, with the fastest right hook I've ever seen! And Emmett's the best freaking suit in this city, with more money than he knows what to do with!"

"Oooh. Speaking of which. Have you seen it?" Interrupting my angry rant to flaunt the biggest sparkly rock (that may have ever been illegally transported into the country) that was currently sat on her finger, a finger that was currently being waved inches from my face.

"I have seen it? Jesus, my point exactly. Emmett has way too much freaking money. Hell, that thing probably has it own gravitational pull." I lightly held her hand, turning it left to right, watching the fading sunlight throw rainbows around the car, hiding my true disgust at the extravagant ring.

Rosalie gave a small grin. She was ice cold with all matters, except for when it came to Emmett. Emmett was her soft spot. Emmett and cars. I released her hand after giving it a small kiss on the knuckles. This was the reason I put up with Rosalie, not just because she could boost a bright yellow 911 turbo and Grasshoppers wouldn't blink an eye, but because she really loved Emmett.

"I'm sorry." I murmured.

"Yeah, I know you are Edward, that's why I haven't broken your beautiful straight nose. It ain't your fault that Sasha and Vasilii were murdered. And you _are_ right. Having my wedding right in the middle of two unsolved, Volturi related crimes would not only be a downer on the party, but it sure as hell would be dangerous."

"Thank you Rose."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Moving on, let's go, I'm hungry as fuck and am craving a burrito. What's happening with that brothel your buying out?"

"It's not a brothel. It's a Strip Club"

"Nipple derby, Titty bar. Call it was you want baby, it's the same thing."

I turned the key the engine, letting the soft roar of the Aston Martin calm me. Rosalie may not get in a twist by my anger, but she sure as hell knew how to press my buttons.

I let out a sigh, to show I wasn't gonna argue with her and concentrated on phrasing my answer to her question and pulling out onto the road. "Yeah, I've brought off Sam Uley's joint, just off The Strip, he's got himself all banged up in debt. So I'm giving him the easy way out."

"Eddie. You own a casino-" She ticked off on her long fingers as she talked. "three night clubs, two restaurants, not mention all your cars, and your fancy-pants penthouse. Your the boss of the Olympia, which is the fastest rising criminal enterprise since Hell-Angels-"

"Don't compare me to those sons-of-a-bitches." I interrupted, anger sharpening my tongue.

"- and now you want a Strip Club! That's so like you organised crime bosses to-"

"Rose. I think we have an insider." I interrupted again, glancing at her through my peripheral vision. She had pouted her lips – her real thinking face.

"Who?"

"I dunno."

"Have you asked-"

"Of course I've asked Jasper and Emmett. I've even asked Carlisle and Esme even though they're barely involved. I just get this feeling our every move it being followed and I don't need that. I don't want to be watched. I'm hoping the Strip Club with throw them off.

Rosalie didn't reply, but gazed silently out the front in thought. The rest of the ride was in silence.

I pulled up at the Burrito Shack minutes later, pulling into park next to a large black Hummer and a blue Mustang. Leaning against the Hummer were the two best plates in the China shop. Jasper was wearing a cowboy hat, pulled down low despite the fact the sun was pitching down, darkness soon to over shadow us.

Rosalie didn't hesitate and was stepping out of the car as soon as the handbrake was down, flinging herself in the waiting arms of Emmett and his pinstriped suit. Emmett, while all dimples, curly dark hair and crude jokes, was a smart man of all aspects.

I followed Rosalie out of the car, silently closing the door behind me and pocketing my keys. Jasper had about as much tolerance for Rosalie and Emmett mush as I did – so, none – and quickly walked around the Vanquish, pushing his hat up off his eyes as he reached out to grasp my forearm. Jasper wasn't big and broad like Emmett and he wasn't as tall and lanky like me, but he was deadly. His thin face, with high cheekbones and friendly brown eyes, framed by straggling long blond hair did nothing but purvey innocence. Of course, the scars on his body showed otherwise.

"Sam Uley's joint? You really wanna do this?"

"If we randomly change places, they're gonna get suspicious. Everyone who's anyone knows Uley's joint is going down. Make Uley's place, our place, only let in the closest plates in. Do the two-thirty dealin's in the back. Anyone still asks, The Chicago is where the meeting's at."

Jasper nodded slowly and I could almost see my words being unpicked and sewn back together in his head.

"Makes sense. Makes a hell of a lot of sense."

"Thank you. Now you hungry? I'm gonna grab a burrito."

"Yeah. Grab me some nachos." He said half-heartedly, pulling the hat back down over his eyes. Tonight's meeting was running through his head and he was thinking of possible outcomes, people who needed to come, places people needed to be. I let him think it through.

I knew what I had to do.

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**Bella's Point of View**

"Bella, calm. Breathe in!"

I sucked in a big breath, the smell of strawberry body glitter and cigarettes assaulting my nostrils. The bass of the music like a ringing in my ears. If I walked out of the hallway and into the club my eyes would then be besieged by the flashing bright lights.

"And breathe out."

I didn't feel any calmer. I looked up at Alice, and her small face stared back at me with hidden worry. I don't know what annoyed me more; that she was so calm about the fact that we were not only exotic dancers, but now _homeless exotic dancers,_ or that she was more worried that _I_ was upset about we were homeless exotic dancers. It was all too much, the worry, the stress and the strain. Alice didn't understand why I had been acting this way for the past months, but she didn't force an answer out of me, instead choosing for me to come to her. Her face blurred again with unshod tears.

"Oh, Goddamit Bells, your gonna smudge your make-up!" Reaching down to swipe her dainty fingers under my eyelashes, saving my mascara from tears threatening the smudge her hard work. I knew that Alice cared. Deep down, somewhere near the belly button ring in her navel, she cared. But she had other worries to think about. Alice was always steps ahead of the rest of the world, always an escape root ready and waiting. "Pull it together girl. We need tips. Look, we'll beg Sam for us to stay over this one night. We'll pull it together in the morning, find a cheap motel-"

"I don't want a cheap motel!"

"We don't have a ch-choice!" Her voice broke at the end, small hands on hips frustrated. _There_ was the caring Alice who loved luxury more than life itself. I stood up quickly and pulled her thin body into mine for a hug, the scratchy cheap beads prodding my bare stomach in uncomfortable ways. Her chin, which usually just hooked over my shoulder, didn't stand a chance while I was in these heels and her silky short black hair brushed against my cheek. We stood there in each others arms calming ourselves. This wasn't how it was meant to be.

Sam wasn't gonna let us stay in his club over night. Sam, while in all pretenses was a nice guy, was selfish and greedy. And he didn't think much of exotic dancers.

"I'm fine." She let out in a breath, pulling out of the hug, but keeping her small hands clenched tight on my arms. "But you got that damn body glitter all over me." She looked down at her ridiculous gold dress, sewn head to toe with gold beads and sequins. Any movement she made sent flashes of light and a tinkle of sound. She gently try to brush off any glitter I had transferred during our tender moment.

"You look like a fairy, or a pixie or something." I blurted out with a grin. She returned it with a larger one, showing almost all of her pearly whites.

"Yeah. That's me, the pole-dancing pixie." A hysterical bubble of laugher burst out, and before we registered what was happening we were rolling around on the floor holding our stomachs shaking with laughter.

Paul chose that moment to walk through the door. "Oi! Bella, shouldn't you be working?" I rolled on to my stomach, giggles sending spasms through me, to look up at Twilight's bouncer. "It's your last night, make it good."

_What?_ _My last night?_

Alice reaction took me by surprise. She jumped to her feet, eyes wide.

"No." She whispered through clenched teeth. "It can't have been that bad."

"$140,000" Paul replied solemnly. My giggles had been halted by my befuddlement at Paul's comment, Alice's knowledge in this made me wary and I slowly pulled myself to my feet.

Alice had let out a hiss. I wasn't sure if it was in surprise or anger. It could have quite easily been in both. "How the fuck-"

"Edward Masen is buying us. Or shall I say 'it'." Paul interrupted with a ugly sneer marring a generally handsome face, knowing Alice's question before she spoke it. I, on the other hand, was missing out everything.

"Alice-" I muttered in question. She held up a hand shushing me. This was her way of saying, 'Wait, I'll explain later.'

She was silent, staring at the floor, hand cupping her forehead in thought. "For how much? And when?"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand." Alice let out a appreciative whistle. "And tonight." Paul continued.

"WHAT?! THAT MOTHER FUCKER IS – TONIGHT?!" Her angry screech was at least two octaves higher than her normal voice and I so very nearly reached up to cover my ears, Paul, on the other hand was not expecting such a reaction, jumped with fright. "_Where the FUCK is he!"_

"Uh, um. Masen's not here-"

"Not Masen." She was glaring furiously, her eyes seemed to darken with rage, made even more furiouser lined with black Kohl, her tone of voice so positively frightening that I couldn't blame Paul, who was a good foot and a bit taller than her, for stuttering and stumbling backwards. "Where. Is. Uley."

"Office." He let out in a whoosh of air.

She grabbed my hand, pulling me with her, storming past a stunned Paul.

"Alice. I know your pissed." I hissed into her ear, jogging awkwardly catch up in my three and a half inch heels. "But before you drag me in there with you, you need to explain-"

"Sam gambles. Sam gambles a lot." She had stopped and span around so fast I was inches away from crashing into her. Her voice was faster and quieter and I leaned closer to catch it all. "Twilight makes good money. But Sam... Sam gambles more than Twilight makes."

_Oh no_. I knew where this was going.

"Now Sam's in too much debt. He only has one choice. To sell. And the buyer's Edward Masen."

"Edward Masen?" The name was ringing with familiarity, but I was unable to place it.

"That gangster. The one that runs Olympia."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay, him."

"Yeah well. He's a gangster. Those who work with him, are known to him. Management will change tomorrow and, lucky us, we're the last to know." She gave a half-hearted shrug and a tired sad smile. The puzzle pieces with fitting together nicely, and I wasn't liking the picture.

"We're gonna be outta of the job." I whispered shocked to the conclusion we had come to. "Homeless _and_ unemployed."

"Bella, I'm sorry-"

"No. You have no fucking reason to be sorry. Sam has to be sorry!" Fury swam through my veins. _That son-of-a-bitch. _I marched to Sam's office, my head swimming with anger. At the back of my mind I registered Alice's strides matched mine. I bet we were a sight for sore eyes. A short black haired pixie in bare feet in a gold sparky stripper dress, holding hands with a ungraceful, pale lap dancer covered with pink body glitter. While this thought swept a wave of self-pity through me, it wasn't enough to override the anger.

"Sam! You fuck! Open this goddamned door!" Alice yelled, while simultaneously pounding her small fist on the back office door.

Sam didn't open the door, Jake did and with Jake, a Glock21 handgun pointing straight at her head. Alice took it all in her stride and slapped the gun out of her face, pushing past the six foot five bodyguard. I was dragged right behind her and although I registered the gun, Alice's anger gave me confidence. Unfortunately, the anger was now being replaced by fear, this particular room making me edgy. It was funny the things adrenaline made you do.

Alice wasted no time and slammed her hands down on his oak wood desk, bending over to be eye level with our boss Sam Uley. He stared back at her, his black eyes calm.

"You know why I'm here Sam." She said through gritted teeth. She could talk this one out with him, I'll just be here for support, and I glanced around the room.

There were three other people in this room, two I didn't know. The more noticeable one was the tall mahogany haired beauty. Leaning back against the wall, dressed for business in a plain white blouse, tucked into a high waisted skirt. Distinguishable features hidden by the shadows of the room. She was dressed and prettied to be forgotten, and I'm sure if it weren't for the bitch-evil smirk she was giving me, I may have forgotten her later on. But I wasn't going to forget that smile. The next was a gentlemen, rather short, bald. Uninteresting. His tie meant business, he was probably a lawyer. Jake stood guard by the door, watching my every move carefully as I surveyed the room as if I had never been in it before. I finished my turn in the room, taking less than thirty seconds to cast my eyes adding the new data to my storage._ Catalogue everything. You don't know what's gonna come in useful._

"What, so, you sell us out Sam?! Now we have nothing?!"

"There's other jobs out there Alice." He replied with a sigh. He didn't want this discussion now. He fidgeted nervously.

"Not unless you want us to become brass nails, Sam." I shot back at him. Unfortunately my cockney slang was lost on him.

"She means prostitutes, Sam. That's kinda the only job still out there." Alice slapped the desk, to pull Sam's attention back to her.

"Look Alice, this isn't-"

"No? To bad. You held out too long mister. We have been here for TWO YEARS. Since the beginning! You can't just throw that information down on the table and leave it there!"

"Second hand information." I quietly added.

"_Second hand information_ Sam. We had to get the goddamn information from Paul!" Alice continued. "When's Masen coming?"

Sam shot a look to the lawyer in annoyance, before looking back at Alice. "Fifteen minutes." He replied quietly.

"Here?" Sam only nodded. "Good, we'll wait here then." Turning her back she spun on the tops of her feet with the grace of the dancer she was, before lightly situating herself in a chair back the wall, patting the chair beside her, indicating for me to sit.

Sam stood up to argue, but Paul interrupted by talking through the door. "Sam...?"

"Excuse us...ladies." Anger laced every word Sam spoke, as he got to his feet, and the crowd followed him out. Alice watched him with wide dark-blue eyes, eyebrows arched in disbelief and anger.

Then we were alone in the large office. Looking around, I studied the office, taking the peeling brown wallpaper, the darker rectangles that outlining where frames used to hang on the wall. "He's been planning to run." I murmured to her. This room had history I had spent months trying to forget. The dark red curtains were drawn closed, keeping out the darkness of the back alley, but at the same time isolating the room from the real world.

"Yep."

The light wasn't very bright and it created eerie shadows along the walls and in the corners. "Hey Alice."

"Yea?"

"The club ain't worth $250,000." I was still whispering.

I didn't trust this room and I didn't trust Sam. I didn't trust Paul, or Quil. I didn't trust the bald man in the grey suit and red tie and I defiantly didn't trust the tall red-head. Alice looked at me, she expression confirming the thoughts that had been running through my head.

Jake never pulled out his gun.

Sam never hid his anger.

"Masen wants to use this for more than a go-go bar." Her voice was calm.

"And Sam knows it, or at least has a hunch."

"Bella. You look like someone just killed- Woah." She stood up bolt right, staring intently at my face. I didn't move, one twitch would set her off.

"_Noooo..." _She whispered in revolt.

I sighed, I couldn't keep anything from this girl. "In that chair. Or at least, those chairs. I swear it." I shuddered and Alice walked towards me arms outstretched for a hug.

"Bella," taking me into her arms. "I have a plan."

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**A/N: I'm not one to usually put an Author's Note.  
But I owe CharlieWeasley everything. **  
**I stole her ideas and I stole her summary. **  
**She keeps me writing :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I own the story.  
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**Glossary of Slang:******

Herring and Kippers – Strippers  
Sausage and Mash – Cash  
"**Let's ghost." - Let's get out of here  
Russell Harty – Party  
Twig – Understand  
Gels - girls  
State (As in, "look at the state of her") - Condition (More commonly used for unclassy/trashy/shit/poor)**

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**Edward's P.O.V**

"I beg your pardon?" Emmett crossed his arms, facing down Sam Uley.

"Look. I'm asked them to leave and they won't. Bella and Alice are strippers, they ain't gonna cause trouble." Sam puffed out his chest and tried to look intimidating. It would have worked to, if it was anyone but Emmett he was up against. His right-hand man, who matched Emmett in height, hovered too close behind Sam for comfort. Exchanging a glance with Jasper proved my suspicions. We needed to turn the tables. Fast.

"Sam, I'll hear them out. If they can prove their worth, I'll keep them." Sam's attention turned to me. In fact, all their attention turned to me, the tall man behind Sam wavering in his plan to attack. "Let's just get this Russell Harty over with."

We were here to sign the papers and pay up, finally officially turning everything over to me._ Thank fuck_. What started out to be a straight forward deal – with me paying way more than what this place was currently worth – turned tricky. Sam called in lawyers, laid out conditions (which Emmett refused), started arguments (in which Rosalie won), even sinking as low to start a fight (which Jasper opened a supremely large can of whoop-ass, introducing his opponents to whole new world of pain). It was tedious. And what I really didn't need was some annoying dancers to round it all off.

Unfortunately, if these gels were like anything I saw back there, they wouldn't last a week. Rosalie obviously noticed the state of the dancing too and that rolled her eyes behind Sam's back. Next to Rosalie, Sam's bald lawyer stood. This man had nothing on Emmett and knew it. He held his briefcase in front of him in both hands, shoulders hunched. Defeat. He sensed it. Sam sensed it.

Sam let out a sigh and turned on his heel, leading us down the wonky hallway to the last door. I couldn't hear any talking, not what I expected from some exotic dancers who were 'anger as hell'. Jasper must have sensed something too, because he traded another uneasy look with me. Behind Jasper and I, Alistair followed, not even a echo of a footstep to his name. Sam's large bodyguard was walking behind Alistair followed by the bald lawyer and at the rear; Rosalie and Emmett.

Sam held the door gold knob, sighing gently before turning it. The door swung open with apparent ease and I stepped in after him. I felt the others walk in behind me, but in the office, the light seemed strangely dimmer than in the club and I had to wait to adjust my eyes.

There wasn't a sound and no girls to be seen. It was larger than I expected, a couch to one side, a couple chairs to the other, surrounded by empty tables and bookshelves. A large oak desk sat at the centre by the window facing the door, the chair was turned away from us facing the window. A slight breeze blew the dark red curtains and in the fluttering I glimpsed a shadow.

The hair rose up on the back of my hair and Jasper froze up, tense with anticipation of attack next to me. Sam looked confused and his bodyguard wary.

"Where's the strippers?" Emmett's voice boomed, too loud for the dim and silence room.

What happened next was very nearly too fast for my brain to follow.

The large desk chair swung around, fast. Faster, was Jasper whipping out the 9mm semi-automatic, firing at the large leather chair, aiming to miss, but close enough to scare. Before the sound wave had finished echoing came the unmistakable cock of a shotgun. Then, Jasper's gun clattered to the hard-wood floor, not even giving me time for the words to sink into my brain.

"Put the goddamn gun down."

I wondered if I was running slower than usual today, as Jasper had registered the voice before I had. Turning my head slowly as not to give the gunman a reason to shoot, I realised that Jasper hadn't reacted to the spoken words, but to the cold metal end of the barrel pressed to his temple.

Silence. No one moved an millimetre. Jasper's shadow covered the face of the person holding the shotgun and I was unable to see a face. Whoever he was, he was pretty freaking small, I reckoned I could overpower him. Before I could figure out a plan of action, a small tinkling voice shattered the tension.

"HOLY _shiiiiiiittt_! Look how goddamn close this bullet is to my head Bella. Bella, put the gun down and chill. He wasn't aiming to hit me. BUT _look_ how close the hole is Bella!"

Bella. Bella was holding the gun. I could easily overpower a Bella.

"Alice, I don't care if he aimed at your head or not. He shot at you." Bella's voice was low, strained with the tension in the air. _How had I not realised it was a girl before? She has a strikingly beautiful voice._ Alice must the girl in the chair.

'Bella' didn't move. In fact no body moved. But once again, 'Alice' broke the hostility and jumped out of the chair, leaping over the desk, the silly plastic beads on her short 1920's flapper dress chiming together as she walked. Or maybe walked wasn't the right word, skipped would fit better. She skipped over to Bella and Jasper, stopping to bend down and pick up Jasper's gun by her bare feet. She was smaller than the Bella holding the gun. Straightening up, she handed Jasper the gun, while using the other hand to move the barrel down from Jasper's head.

Still nobody moved. I think mostly from shock of the situation, rather than the danger.

The barrel of the shotgun was now pointing at Jasper's torso, and Alice, who was seemingly frustrated at the pace things were moving, gave Bella a stare. I can only imagine what the look must have looked like as I could only see the back head, covered by her short black hair, but it must have been enough for Bella to slowly take her finger off the trigger, the butt off her shoulder and grasping it by the middle of the barrel, handed the shot gun to Alice. Alice impressed with her persuasive skills, grinned up at a wide-eyed Jasper, who still hadn't moved to take his handgun back. If it was an appropriate situation, the effect Alice seem to have on Jasper would have been hilariously funny. Instead, it was mildly annoying. Alice was still holding a handgun by the barrel pointing the butt at his chest waiting for him to take it. Which he still hadn't.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who found his staring mildly annoying and faster than he knew what hit him, literally, Alice spun the shotgun up like a baton, holding it by the barrel, and smacked the butt of the the shotgun onto his chest causing him to automatically grab for it, while taking a step backwards to regain his balance.

A small snort of laughter echoed around the room breaking the silence. Rosalie had no concept of awkward and had found Jasper's incompetence amusing. Alice handed me Jasper's handgun.

"Thank you." I said lightly, trying to ease the suspense.

Alice's face brightened, the small knot of vexation in her brow loosened as she grinned, her smile lighting up her face. "Your more than welcome Mr Masen. The name's Alice. Alice Brandon." And with a small flourish, she produced a small hand to shake.

My own hand engulfed hers as I shook it, responding with the polite automatic response. "It's a pleasure to meet Miss Brandon. Please, call me Edward."

She released my hand and with a smile, grabbed the arm of the of the shotgun wielding stripper, and pulled her in-front of me with a sharp tug. "And this is Bella. Bella Swan."

I stuck out my hand to shake, looking at the Miss Bella Swan in the light. She was barely clothed, small short jeans shorts, with a pale pink bikini top. A small scar ran up from the waist to the chest, passing a small plain silver belly button piercing. She was skinny, but not thin in the extreme like Alice; she had curves. The light shimmered off some sort of body glitter, giving her pale skin a weird glow in the dim light. Looking into her heart-shaped face was a whole different story. Small nose, high cheekbones, pale with a slight pink blush on them. The room was still too dark to see the colour of her eyes, but they were as dark as the mass of curls piled on her head straining against the pins that kept them there.

Her hand was small and slender, skin as soft as it looked, fitting perfectly into my own. I heard a soft clearing of the throat from behind me, Rosalie's reminder it get a move on. Peculiarly, Alice beat me to the punch.

"Terribly sorry about that. Don't worry, Sam didn't set us up for it. And we didn't plan that." Bella had turned away from me now, stalking back to the shadows of the room to seat herself on the couch. "Bella was fidgeting with it before, I don't think it's actually loaded."

At this, Jasper broke out of his trance to unlock the shotgun and pop it open. He glanced at me. It was loaded. Jasper spoke out loud.

"No, sugar. It's definitely loaded." He drawled, the southern accent brought out for extra charm.

"I haven't used that gun in years." Sam quickly clarified.

Alice puffed out her cheeks, reminding me of a chipmunk, turning slowly towards Bella. All eyes in the room followed, staring at the lady hidden in the shadows.

"You, a stripper, loaded a Winchester M1887 without her knowing?" Jerking his thumb at Alice, Emmett let out an appreciate whistle.

"It's a M1897 and I'm not a stripper, I'm a lap dancer." Bella corrected him on both accounts without a break in her monotone.

People often mistook Emmett for a dumbass, just like people mistook Rosalie to be cold-hearted, vain bitch, which she kinda was, but mostly it was just an act. Behind the scenes, Emmett was the biggest brain possible, rubbing his smarts all over the show. Emmett knew it was a Winchester M1897, but by letting his _mistake_ slip and from her correction, he had learnt that not only did Bella know her guns and how to load them, that there was a large chance that she knew how to wield one. The other correction threw him off guard.

"A lap dancer? Hell, what's the difference?" He said with a chuckle, keeping the stupid ass charade up.

"Many! For one-"

"For one, if I stripped off my clothes, I wouldn't be a dancer, I'll be a prostitute." Bella quipped, interrupting whatever Alice was gonna say with her low monotonous voice, waving her hand lazily to indicate the lack of clothes.

I grinned. She was smart, probably a lot smarter than your average _lap dancer._ Her comment also got a laugh from Rosalie.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"Million bucks and a nice house. Possibly with a toy-boy on the side." She replied sarcastically.

"We would like you to hear us out." Alice spoke before I could even come up with a suitable come back in my head. She was still looking at Bella, the furrow of annoyance back in her brow.

"Hear you out?" Emmett replied slowly. Of course, let Emmett deal with the business side of things. I strolled towards a chair on the opposite side of the room from Bella.

"Yes. Your gonna fire the lot of us."

"Uh, no, Miss Bran-"

"No. You will. We ain't stupid. But hear us out." Alice was quick, turning towards Emmett holding up a hand to silence him mid-sentence. "Give us a week to prove our worth. We need the money and you need strippers. And I highly doubt you have a load out back waiting, 'cause I know you don't own any other strip joints." This time point her small finger at me.

I twirled the handgun in my hands. She was right, very right. Emmett hadn't answered her, so I was guessing that this decision was mine.

"Yeah, why not? We're closing for three weeks to do the place up. When we open again, you can have a week to prove yourselves."

Alice lit up again, this time with a girly squeal, and hugged a disbelieving Bella, who had stood up at my words. Bella carefully walked towards me, as if taking great care of the placement of her feet. Stopping in front of me, I turned up to look at her. She had her hand out towards me in offering. I took it in mine for the second time this night. The tingling sensation occured again, I had took great effort in ignoring before, but this time it sparked up my arm, catching me off guard.

"Thank you Mr Masen." Her voice so monotonous before, had taken on a different note and flowed beautifully around her words. Her face was frowning with worry despite what I had offered. She let go of my hand and straightened, walking out of the room, gently clicking the door behind her. The smell of strawberries followed her out.

A huge sigh was released and turning I found, once again, Alice had broken the silence. Her flopped her small body down on the couch where Bella was sitting moments before.

"Down to business then, gentlemen?" Emmett started strolling towards the desk to lay down his suitcase.

"Alice, could you-?" Sam nodded his head towards the door.

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Take a hike? No thank you. I'm quite comfortable, its only a business deal Sam. Unless Edward would rather me gone?" Turning to me with an exaggerated forlorn expression on her face.

Once again I found myself smiling. I liked Alice, this girl had balls. "Alice is more than welcome to stay."

Sam quite obviously disapproved of this arrangement, but wisely did not speak up. I let Emmett do the talking, explaining the remaining bits of the deal to Sam and his lawyer.

Jasper sat down next to me, laying the shotgun down on the small table next to him. "Is this a wise move Edward? Do you have to involve the herring and kippers?" Jasper only took on slang words when he didn't wish to be understood by others. "Lets just hand over the sausage and mash and ghost."

Jasper had left his hat in the car, it being too dark now from him to get away with wearing it. His hair was tucked behind one ear, the other side down, hiding his face from the paper talk to the right of us. His face was composed, but his eyes held an emotion I had yet to see there before.

His eyes flickered to the other side of the room and back. _Ahhhh, of course. _Alice. I turned to look at her, she was staring straight at us, arms crossed over chest. I straightened in my seat and called her over.

Quickly, but rather gracefully, she stood up and danced over, dropping right in front of our legs to sit on her legs, as not to flash us some, on the ground staring up at us. I leant forward, forearms on thighs to talk to her in a hushed tone.

"You may sit in the chair next to me."

Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Nah. That's where they killed Laurent Benoit."

Gordon _fucking _Bennett.

I heard Jasper's breath hitch beside me. That was Irina Denali's boyfriend who disappeared off the grid around the same time as Vasilii and Sasha. Laurent and Vasilii were close friends despite the age difference between them. We had been searching for this kind of information for months and here it was dropped in my lap in a completely bizarre scenario.

I opened my mouth to sound disinterested and smooth. Alice struck out a finger to my lips, silencing me. Her face told all. She knew how important this information was. Leaning in real close, mere inches away from both Jasper's and my face, she quietly spoke.

"Bella and I are homeless. We have no where to go but shitty hotels or back street alleys. I have two hundred dollars in my back pocket to last me three weeks. I'll cut you a deal. We worked for you permanently, being paid for the next three weeks also, or you give us somewhere _nice_ to live. Somewhere nice and permanent. You do this and we'll give you information. That's our deal. No haggling. You twig?"

She stood up and walked out of the office, the door slamming behind her.

_Fuck._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Blah**.

**

* * *

Glossary:**

**Nick – Steal****  
Shit off – Fuck off (same thing really)  
Chevy Chase – Face  
Jimmy Riddle – Piddle (Piss, pee, urinate)

* * *

**

**Bella's POV:  
**

I grounded my ass into his erection, twirling my hips as I moved up and down, off and onto his lap. This one was one of the better ones, keeping his hands to himself, just sitting back and enjoying the show. I got off and span to face him, ass in the air, breasts at his eye level. I slide my hands up his thighs, stopping at his belt, pulling myself back on to his lap straddling him.

"Time's up darling."

He lets a easy laugh. "Oh, how the minutes fly." He was still staring at my breasts. Behind him, I caught sight of a flash of gold. Alice was back. I wondered how the meeting went. The man I was sitting on slipped a fifty into the bikini top.

"Why darling, your too kind." I grinned at him. Tips were good. Tips were very good.

I pulled myself off the man and strutted over to Alice who was sitting at the bar, giving my tipper a show. Alice had put some shoes on, plain blacks heels, which meant she wasn't dancing tonight. I jumped up on the bar stool next to Alice, pulling my fifty out, to fold it together with the rest of the nights tips that I kept in a secret pocket on the inside of my shorts. About to ask about the shoes, Alice spoke first, knocking my thought out of play.

"I blackmailed 'im"

I looked up at Alice in surprise. She was looking over my shoulder, but not looking at really anything in particular, eyes glazed over.

"Ali, you what?!" I hissed, leaning towards him.

"I'm sick of this life Bells, I want out. And this is it. This is our way out." Her eyes focused and turned to me, dark blue with determination.

"By blackmailing a mob boss." It was meant to be a question, but I was still in shock.

"Remember that thing with Laurent?" She had lowered her voice and I had to lean in to catch in. She lips barely moved. "Remember that thing with, um, what's his name?"

_Remember? How could I forget?_

"Vasilii." This conversation was not going where I wanted it to go and I could feel my body going cold.

"Yeah. That's the one. Well, they were tied in to some Olympia thing and they were tied in with some Volturi thing. We have _information_ that they _both_ want. One of them two were gonna eventually find out. And I rather it the Olympia. The Olympia we can trust." She nodded as if to confirm it with herself. "The Olympia can keep us safe." This last sentence hit me hard, her voice laced with worry. _Safe. "Sooo, _I blackmailed him."

Although her words implied we _both_ had information. They couldn't be more of a lie. I had information. The Olympia would have to keep me safe. Alice knew chunks. Not enough to be tortured or murdered, I made sure of that. I told her enough to keep her happy, but not enough to put her in danger. I planned to keep it that way. My head sunk into my hands. What went wrong? Where did I go _wrong?_

And now that she mentioned it to Edward, we couldn't escape either.

"I gave him a choice. Permanent residence or permanent job, with the next three weeks fully paid leave." She tried to reassure me.

"He can't guarantee us a permanent job Alice." I whined through my hands.

"I know." She was three steps ahead of me. I lifted my head up to stare at her, trying to catch up.

"He won't buy us a house Alice."

"No, they won't."

_They._ 'They' was the clue. 'They' must be the tall blond man as well as Edward. They were friends. Sharing glances with one another, that only very good friends could do. They both were wearing designer gear, so they were rich. Mob's were pretty tight, so they probably lived close to one another....

"_No..." _

"If they accept Bella. They'll keep us safe."

"We can't just go live with random strangers! We'll be separated! By ourselves!"

"When not with them."

"They wouldn't just take in some random strippers to live with them!" Throwing my hands up in exasperation. This was too much drama for Alice and she yanked my arms down, turning her whole body to face me.

"They want this information and when they find out what it is. They'll want to keep us safe. It's the obviously solution. It's also this, or the shitter down the street." Nodding her head to the north indicate the neighbouring motel. "Are you in?"

I looked down at my arms. Her small hands nearly managed to wrap themselves right round my pale forearms. Her naturally bronze skin contrasted greatly with white of my skin.

"Yeah, Alice, I'm in." _Not that I have much of a choice._

"Good. I bags the Texan blond." She lowered her voice, cutting across before I could speak. "I'm gonna marry that man. You just wait."

"_Whhhattttt_??" A tapping on my shoulder impeded the rest of my outraged sentence and I turned around to face Quil, who was pointing a gentlemen in a booth facing towards the bar.

"Your still working Bella. Ten minutes."

"Yeah, yeah." I jumped of the stood and walked towards my next customer. I hollered back over my shoulder to Alice.

"This ain't over Pixie!" She waved and giggled, turning her attention to Seth, the barman.

When I turned back towards my customer, I found him talking to a very large man. Jake. I gritted my teeth and slowed down. I wasn't gonna interrupt this. My customer didn't seem to know Jake well and was watching him carefully with a frown. Jake shook his head and handed him a slip of paper. Thinking quickly, I faked a stumble, which turned into the real thing, very nicely twisting my ankle. Straightening myself I let out a hiss. Crap. I really did twist it. Looking up, Jake was gone and my customer was sat staring at the paper. Carefully, without putting too much pressure on my ankle, or looking like I was crippled, I walked towards my customer, swinging my leg over and straddling him.

"Five, ten or fifteen?" I questioned how much he'd paid for. He wasn't a Native American like most of Sam's crew. What looked like dark skin from a distance, was just a tan. He was white, large and broad shouldered. A scar ran down the side of his face, starting by his eyebrow, leading up into his hair. An old scar, faded, only just discernible by the flashing pink and red lights of the strippers.

"Ten." His voice was rough. A smoker, even if he didn't smell like it, probably quit a year or so back. At least he was honest.

I stood up, legs on either of him, and started one of many routines. Unlike pole dancing, each lap- dance had to vary, depending on the size of the man, the state of the man and the horniness of the man. All variables having to be summed up swiftly before you reach dancing time. While I didn't hate lap-dancing. I didn't like it and I would much rather be dancing off a pole. Lap-dancing was too personal for me, too close. But what I did like about it was that I rarely had to pay attention to my feet. This way, I could let my thoughts run wild.

Running wild in these thoughts was Edward. Tall Edward in his plain black suit, fitting white shirt. His messy _bronze_ hair. Not red, or brown, or orange. But almost a mix of all three. What was even more shocking. His eyes. Green. Not a hazel speck to be seen, just green. And as so many have said, to quote; 'the eyes are the windows to the soul'. His eyes showed intelligence and questions. Sadness, or maybe more of a loneliness. Probably more likely loneliness. You probably couldn't trust anyone in the world that he lived in. Hell, you couldn't trust anyone in the world I lived in. It was a lonely world for us all. His hands where soft, fingers long. Probably a pianist. Callouses on fingers meant he played the guitar. Dark circles under his eyes, spoke of restless nights and busy days. Unshaven jaw line - and oh what a jaw line is was - proved it.

I very nearly fell to my knees and asked him to fuck me right there and then.

I figured it wouldn't be a very good first impression, so I withheld. It was bad enough I was waving a shotgun around.

I looked back towards the bar to find Alice and there was the man himself. Staring straight at me.

In fact, they were all staring at me, Alice and the tall blond man included. The supermodel blond and the loud suit with the curly hair. Standing in what little darkness the clubs lights missed was the silent dark-haired man. All looking at me. As if I didn't feel self-conscience enough.

I turned and continued my routine with my back to them. _Four more minutes and then you can go argue with the midget. _

_No! Three more minutes! _

_Oh God, what if she manages to convince them that we have to live with 'em!_

_Oh Bella! Don't go down that path. And stop talking to yourself. _

Looking around for a distraction, I found the prefect one. The slip of paper Jake gave the man. It wasn't big, no more than an eighth of the size of an A4 piece of paper. And it was half sticking out of the man's pocket. _Hmmm, I wonder..._

Flicking the leather jacket with my hand, I realise want I was doing. I'm in enough trouble as it is for sticking my nose into where it don't belong and I wanna go stealing bits of paper out of customer pockets now.

Oh, it was more than half out now, in fact it's close enough to fall out. _Nick it Bella._ _If he sees just say you saw it falling out._

Which it was.

Falling out that is.

I sat down hard on his erection, grinding into him, as he closed his eyes in pleasure. Sharpish, I snatched the paper out of his pocket and shoved it into the front of my underwear.

He didn't notice and before he could open his eyes and catching me blushing deep red, I span facing towards Alice and the bar again. The tall blond, Edward and Alice were talking heads together. The others had disappeared. Looking closely I noticed it wasn't completely the case. Shadow man was still there. Still in the shadows, just out of hearing, but not out of sight. He was still staring at me. I openly stared back. I rarely did this, but the Shadow man's stare was not creepy or intimidating, but more... I didn't know how to describe it.

I turned back to my customer to tell him his time was up, guilt pounding in my head, paper scratching my thigh.

"Time's up?" He asked.

Strange. Not many customers took note of the time when having a lap-dance.

I plastered a smile on. "Sorry darl."

He reached into his pocket which previously held the note, before I could react he pulled out a wallet.

I let out a breath, I didn't realise I was holding in. He didn't notice. He didn't even _freaking _notice! And that's when it hit me; I just stole a random piece of paper from a paying customer for _NO_ reason!

Taking the two twenties off him, I hoisted myself off him and gave the usual butt waggle as a departing freebie. This time made more uncomfortable by the paper shoved down my panties and my sore ankle. Before I reached Alice at the bar, I artfully pulled out the paper and folded it into one of the twenties and shoving it into the back pocket of my shorts.

Upon reaching the bar the conversation between the three lulled. Nodding to Edward and the blond man, I reached into the inside of my shorts to the cash pocket. The blond man who had watched my every move coming to the bar suddenly flinched. Before I could prevent it, my inner smart ass got the better of me.

I whipped out the money, rolling it tightly between two fingers and poked it at his head.

"Make one move punk, and I'll give you a paper cut!" I hissed, amused. I pulled the roll of money back with a laugh. As funny as it was, I couldn't afford to lose a wad of money.

I watched array of emotions quickly flicker on his face, shock, annoyance, saving the best to last, amusement. He gave a grin, almost apologetic, perhaps for earlier before. I didn't dwell on it, as I was distracted by a small musical chuckle. Edward was wearing a crooked grin and his eyes were just as amused. But they still held questions, even more maybe than before.

Alice slapped me on the upper arm knocking me out of my reverence. She on the other hand was wearing a frown, an apparent disapproval of my witty joke. Her eyes made me apologies.

"Sorry. But the chances of me fitting a gun, or hell, any weapon in these tight ass shorts was pretty fre-" Alice slapped my bare arm again, the frown deepening.

I started again, rephrasing. "I am sorry for making a joke in reference to earlier where you very nearly shot-" Another slap cut me short. _Ahhh. Too funny. Hold it in Bella. Be serious. _

I glanced at Edward. He was holding a hand over his mouth, but the corner of his eyes gave away the grin. _NOT HELPING._

"Sorry. I'm just sorry. Also know as Bella Swan, and you are?" Holding a hand out to shake.

He was grinning, not bothering to hide it like Edward. "Jasper Whitlock. It's a pleasure. And I am sorry about earlier." His eyes were brown and they bore more emotions than what could have been linked to this conversation. How strange.

"Nah. It's okay. If I had a gun I probably would have tried to shoot her too." This time I was quicker and managed to dodge the slap.

"You did have a gun and you missed your window of opportunity." Alice retaliated.

Grinning, I scanned the back of the bar for the clock. Twelve. Tonight's shift was over. That thought brought me back to reality, my smile disappearing off my face.

"My stuff is already is Jasper's car, you locked the door of your dressing room so we couldn't get put your stuff into your car."

Oh shit. I didn't get to finish the conversation with her and she's already won. I turned to her in shock, deciding that I didn't wish to be surprised or shocked any more times tonight. She was smug. Goddammit, they gave into her blackmail.

Turn faced Edward and Jasper to gauge their reactions. Jasper looked... sickening happy with the arrangement. Edward, on the other hand was more inclined to the appropriate reaction. Annoyance.

Seeing me staring he spoke up. "I have a spare room with an en-suite."

"That doesn't mean you want to share it." I muttered angry. I didn't like this arrangement, not one bit.

Edward heard me and raise his eyebrows. "Would you rather have money to sleep in hotel?"

_Shit._ No I didn't, that was worse. For many reasons.

"I didn't think so." I looked into his serious green eyes. I let out a sigh. Great, way to get yourself involved with a gang, there was no backing out of this one.

"I'll go get my stuff." I walked off without a goodbye to Alice. She didn't deserve a freaking goodbye.

I sauntered off to my changing room, the room Alice and I usually referred it to as The Cupboard. Due to the fact that most cupboards were bigger than it. There weren't many dressing rooms. Lap-dancers all had their own, for reasons unknown to Alice and I, and the pole-dancers shared in small groups. Alice share with two girls; Jessica and Lauren. We had only met them once or twice, they had different shifts to our own.

I reached my room, turning the knob. It was locked. I didn't remember locking it, although I nearly always did. I was talking to Alice in her room on her break when we heard the news about the Masen take over. Alice then dragged me to Sam's office. I definitely didn't lock this door.

Unlocking it now, I peered in switching on the light. Everything was still here, nothing touched, moved or stolen. _What's that? The third strange thing that's happened tonight? _I rolled my eyes at my own silliness, walking in to grab my grey Forks High School jumper.

The door slammed behind me and I spun coming face to face, or really face to chest, with Jacob Black.

"Jake!" I squeaked. _Shit. Don't squeak. Don't let him see how scare of him you are._

"Bella, what the fuck were you playing at out there?" His deep voice was sharp, black eyes cold.

The unknown piece of paper burnt a hole in my pocket. I didn't answer, hoping that I looked innocent.

"You think that just because you have survived this jungle." Waving a large hand towards the booming bass outside. "That your above everyone else?! Think you can just get involved with personal business and mobs." He was referring to Edward.

"Shit off Jacob. My business ain't your business." Trying to sound fierce.

He stepped closer. Too close. I could feel the heat radiating off him. The anger in his eyes searing holes into my face. I refused to look him in the eyes, instead I focused just above them, at his forehead.

"You little slut." He spat with venom.

Then I lost it. "Fuck you Jacob! Who are you to call me a slut-" My yell was lost in painful, confusing blackness.

* * *

Green eyes.

Green eyes and a voice. A nice calm voice. Surrounded by lots of fuzzy noisy, not so calm, voices.

Then the green eyes were gone, replaced by scared blue ones. The erratic loud voices focused in.

"Get him the FUCK out of here!"

"Bella, _Bella_! Are you okay?! _Oh,_ of course your _not_ okay. Bella,_ Bella_!"

"Alice don't shake her!"

"If I see his bloody Chevy Chase again, I'll fuck 'im up so bad he'll be Jimmy Riddling blood for weeks!" The calm voice was laced with anger. Anger that was tainted with an lovely English accent.

"Bella, can you hear me?!" My eyes were focusing now. Alice's face two inches from mine own. Mine own extremely painful face.

I groaned in reply. That _mother fucker _punched me. It must have knocked me out cold. I slowly sat up, Alice assisting me as per usual. Except when I'm lying on the floor out cold, it's never been because someone punched me in the face. I reached up the touch the tender skin. Black eye material, it was. Swelling in twenty minutes, my eye swollen shut if I didn't get some ice on it within the hour.

My head was throbbing where I had hit it on the floor. I glanced around me, Alice still holding onto my arm as if I was gonna fall any minute. Which was likely.

Jasper was in a yelling match with Jacob and Sam. The Shadow man was standing between Jacob and Jasper. Jacob was supporting a broken nose, blood pouring freely down his face, which he swiped away with the back of his face every ten seconds to shout obscenities. Jasper's hands were in fists, the Shadow Man's palm on his chest. I stopped trying to understand what was going on and took a seat by dressing table. I hadn't cleared it and it was still covered in my junk. I wanted to start packing it away but my head was spinning to fast, the knock out and the smell of blood combining together for an all powerful sensation.

Then I was lifted into strong arms and being carried out of my dressing room.

"Put me down. Please put me down. I think I am going to vomit. And I had pizza for dinner." I mumbled. So really in my state, it came out a garble and a groan.

Then, fresh air and cold concrete. I had been carried out of the club and placed on the footpath. I lay down on the dirty footpath hoping the cold would clear my blurred brain. Worry about germs later. Unfortunately, that side of my face had been punched and I had to push myself off the ground with my weak arms to fall to the other side. I didn't get far, strong hands propped me up against some legs, my sore cheekbone in the gap between the man's two knees as not to put it under any pressure.

_He smells nice. Like sunshine and honey._

I closed my eyes, trying to focus, trying to clear my head.

It was Alice's voice that cut through the mist.

"Bella. Here." She shoved her weird herbs under my nose, clearing my brain quickly. "Bells, I have to go, Jasper has been asked to leave the club. He lives near Edward, so I'll see you in the morning! Stay safe!"

I pulled myself off the lap, but she was already gone. I found myself face to face with green eyes.

"Bella, are you okay?" His voice was gentle, face inscrutable, eyes worried.

_I was fine until I realised I had my head in your lap._

"Yeah? Yes, I'm fine." _Fine, fine, fine. _My head chanted. _Your rather fine too Green Eyes. Shut up brain!_

"Ooookay." He stretch out the syllable slowly, making it clear he didn't believe me. He stood up, and held out a hand to help me up. The other hand rested by his side, looking slightly weird. I grabbed it and pulled myself up, embarrassing as it was, I wouldn't have been able to stand on my own in these heels. The street light shone down on Edward, making visible the blood spatter on his shirt.

I inhaled quickly. He punched Jacob. I went to question this out loud, but my brain still wasn't in the right gear yet.

"Your not going to get those blood stains out."

_Stupid, stupid brain! What use are you!?_

Rather than give me a odd look, he laughed in agreement. "It's okay. It wasn't my favourite shirt."

"That was lucky then."

"Indeed. Shall we go get your stuff and show you around my place?"

There was really no way to get out of it now and I resigned myself to the fate and walked back into the club, supported by Edward Masen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Glossary:**

**Cream Crackered – Knackered**  
**Dicky Bird - Word**

**

* * *

**

**Edward's POV:**

The ride home was in amiable silence. She didn't feel the need to fill the tranquillity with mindless chatter like many people do. I pulled into the private underground parking, swiftly swiping my card for access and pulling into my spot seconds later. I opened my door which turned on the light. Bella was illuminated.

Strands of her hair had escaped their pins, curling down her small back and floated across her shoulders. She held the grey jumper tightly across her chest, as if it was the life raft keeping her afloat. She caught me staring and stared straight back, those dark chocolate brown eyes straight into my own green ones. Her cheekbone was swelling and a deep pink shade.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

She frowned in confusion. "For what?" She broke eye contact and changed the conversation afore I had chance to answer. "Is this it?"

"Well, this is the underground parking…" I stepped out of the low car. The air was muggy and warm from the hot day. I spotted Jasper's Mustang parked a couple spots along. "The elevator goes up into the apartments." My voice echoed around the concrete.

Bella had got out of the car and was standing behind me taking in the view. "It's like a car museum in here." She had muttered under her breath with no intention of me hearing.

"I like cars." I laughed.

She looked up at me. She was a good foot shorter than me without heels. She didn't reply.

I popped the truck and pulled out the large suitcase and the two small, ratty boxes. It was weird to think that this was all she had of possessions. She must have had more as a kid, who in hell knew happened to them all. Alice had more boxes than this, abet lighter boxes, but at least she had more. Bella grabbed the handle of the large suitcase, as I stacked the boxes.

"Bend your knees or your pull your back out." Bella commented.

"I'm only twenty seven!" I grinned, straightening up, boxes in hands. Bella closed the truck after me and I lead the way to the elevator.

"Yeah? Well then think how stupid you'll look with a crippled back." She huffed behind me, limping slowly.

I ignored her statement to ask one of the questions on the back of my mind. "So, how old are you?"

"Did you know that seventy-six percent of women lie about their age?" Defecting my question.

"Did you know that sixty-four percent of statistics are made up?"

"You just made that up." I glimpsed her smile out the corner of my eye before she quickly hid it.

"Yeah, I did." I admitted, grinning. She was sharp as a knife, witty as hell.

"It was a believable percentage. I nearly fell for it."

"Was it believable enough to make you want to admit your age?"

"Twenty five."

Stepping into the elevator, I turned to face the door, watching as Bella stepped in after me. I nodded towards the buttons. She looked younger than twenty five.

"Top floor."

"Huh. It's my complexion." She was cold, Goosebumps along her arms. She still had her jumper against her chest. She gently reached out to press the button. She wouldn't look at me, instead let go of the suitcase to grab the rail. Her face gave nothing away.

"What's your complexion?" She had me laughing one second, confused the next.

"I look younger because I have a pale complexion. The darker your skin, the older you look."

I wished I could see into her eyes. Everything Bella did or said threw me off guard, always doing or saying the unexpected. I was now second guessing my own instincts. After being able to understand people all these years, it was a twenty five year old, beautiful, clumsy, magnet-for-trouble, lap dancer that me a fix.

Now she was my new room-mate. Jasper and I had come to no other conclusion. We couldn't promise them permanent job, I was still unsure if I was going to run the strip club myself and if I did, would it be safe to have old employees in a new club? It could mean trouble. We couldn't just put them into a hotel, or buy them an apartment because it meant not only a paper trail that could be followed, but it left them unprotected if the information was as good as Alice promised it was. Jasper suggested it out loud first, although I knew both of us had come to the same conclusion at the same time. Jasper was one floor below me and I owned the building. No need for anyone to know where they were living. _Except Jacob._ Sam's bodyguard was now knowledgeable that Bella _at least_ knew me. And that finalised it. Bella had to be protected, if not from the Volturi, but from Jacob. From other males who thought they could do whatever they hell they wanted with her.

The quiet 'ding' of the elevator pulled me out of my thoughts. _Shit, did I leave a mess? Wait. Why did I care?_ I shook my head free of these confusing thoughts and walking forwards. As it was the penthouse, there was no need for a hallway; instead it was more like a small lobby. It made it look a lot flasher than it was. I placed the boxes carefully down by the door to pull out my keys to unlock the door.

"You'll have to excuse any mess." I commented, picking up her boxes and walking in.

Bella walked in cautiously behind me, remaining quiet as I pointed out the doors to the bathroom, the linen closet and my office on the way down the hall. The hall leads straight into the open space of the lounge, dining room and kitchen, no walls separating the three. Large glass doors backed the lounge, opening into the roof-top garden. By the looks of it Esme had been over earlier and had cleaned up all my mess. I looked at Bella to gauge her reaction. Her face still gave away nothing, but her eyes told me more; awe.

I wasn't sure if I liked the look in her eyes, it made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't linger long, quickly moving on to point out my bedroom and other office. The doors were closed and I didn't bother opening them to show her around. Hopefully, she took the hint that she wasn't to go in there. Around the corner was the small spiral staircase that leads up into the guest suite. It was small, one bedroom with a small office and an en-suite. Due to the fact I never had anyone come into my house and those who did lived in this very building, no one had actually stayed in the room before.

I dropped her boxes on the floor by double bed. It was a pretty plain room by my standards. Not overly large, but big enough to adequately fit a double bed, a large bookshelf (empty), a wardrobe (empty), a small vanity dresser (empty) with a large mirror. Esme pretty much choose all my furniture so everything matched, all made of dark mahogany wood. Cream walls, the ceiling making up for the majority of the room, sloping on one side of the room with the roof. Due to this, sky lights were used as windows and when daytime, looking out gave you a view of the Las Vegas National Golf Club.

"Well this is it. This is your room. That door's the bathroom and the other door out by the stairs is a small office, which is yours too. Help yourself to everything. I don't usually eat in, so there's not much in the kitchen. I don't really use it at all actually, so feel free to claim it as your own." I stopped myself. I was rambling. _Let it sink in chunk at a time Edward. _

I looked tomy side where I presumed Bella was. Which she wasn't. She was still standing by the door, looking around in shock, surprise now showing in her previously carefully arranged face.

"I can't-"

I cut her off, my tone sharp with annoyance. This was not how I planned tonight to end and although to wasn't Bella's fault, I couldn't help but get annoyed at her reluctance of being here. "Can't what Bella? I'm offering. If I wasn't a hundred percent sure about this, I wouldn't do it."

She looked like she was going to argue, so I pulled out the big guns. "I need your information and I can't get it if your dead. Oh, and it doesn't finish there darling, because your life will be in _more_ danger if _they_ know that _I_ know what _you_ know."

Her face closed up and she closed her eyes, thinking. I waited for my words to sink in. I didn't have to wait long.

"I hope that made more sense in your head Edward." She sighed walking into the room, face placid, but the awe back in her eyes as she looked around the empty plain room.

A wave of relief went through me, elating me from tension I didn't know I felt. I smiled at her comment, all annoyance evaporating.

"Prefect sense." I commented. "Anyway, I'm absolutely cream crackered. Help yourself to anything." Spinning on my heel and walking out of the room. I halted by the door realising that I wasn't speaking to a friend who was use to my 'strange' London slang. I opened my mouth to speak but Bella interrupted softly.

"Cream crackered, knackered. I get it. You grew up in East London?"

"My parents died when I was seventeen and I moved out here to live." I replied softly.

"I'm sorry." She spoke with sincerity.

"You know cockney slang?" Deftly changing the subject I was more comfortable with.

"Enough. I minored in literature and it was a small class, I was one of ten, my lecturer was from London. He said if we could figure out 'proper English' then we were good enough to study English. Anyway. Edward?"

"Hmmm?"

"Don't call me 'darling'. That's what I call my customers."

_Fair enough then._

"Goodnight Bella."

I made my way down the spiral staircase to my bedroom in thought. She was smart; she had to be to have gone to university, to minor in English literature.

_So why was she an exotic dancer?_

_

* * *

_

Trying to untangle my wet hair with my fingers, I strolled out into the lounge. The siding down was wide open, the view obscured by the weaving curtains in the breeze. Jasper was sitting on the bar stool, arms folded on the counter, head down read what look like today's paper.

"What's the Dicky on the street?"

"Would it kill you to speak _real _English, if not American?"

I disregarded his comment noticing a mass bags filled with groceries on the counter. "What's all that?" I walked over into the kitchen to look in the bags. They were full of food items, as well as basic ingredients. "What _is_ all this?" I repeated.

Jasper gave me a fleeting look before returning to his paper. "Bella brought 'em."

"What?"

"Bella brought 'em." He yelled. Cheeky sod.

"Why? Why did Bella – Where is Bella?"

"Bella probably brought all this food because all you have in your fridge is beer and left over Chinese take-away. As for her whereabouts, Alice and Bella are in the garden."

Without thought I walked outside, Jasper pulling himself off the stool to follow me. Two figures, one identifiable as Alice with her short black hair, were at the back of the garden. Distressingly the identifiable figure, known as Alice, was standing on the thick brick wall of the roof top. Standing on the thick red brick wall that separated my garden from the five story drop to the street below. Standing wasn't the right word. Dancing fitted better.

"WHAT THE HELL ALICE?! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!" Came a roar behind me. Jasper practically sprinted over to Alice and yanked her down off the wall by the waist, setting her down on the ground before reprimanding her loudly.

The second figure still hadn't moved despite the yelling right next to her. She was wearing plain khaki coloured shorts to her knees with a plain white t-shirt that was barely visible behind a curtain of long dark curly hair. She was leaning over the edge, stomach on the wall.

Before I could start to walk toward her, Bella jumped back off the ledge as if she'd been electrocuted, only to stumble and fall straight onto her ass. I jogged over to where she lay, straight as a rod, not bothering to get up, hands on her face. Jasper, who had stopped yelling as soon as he saw Bella jump back in fright, and Alice were already standing over her in confusion.

Standing over her I heard a mumble. "I am so embarrassed." Still not moving, hands over a bright red face.

Alice straightened and you could almost see the light bulb going off above her head. She leant over the edge, similar to what Bella was doing seconds ago. Before Jasper could reach out and grab onto her shoulder and haul her back, she bounced off as uniformly as Bella, but with more obvious grace and the ability to stay on her feet, howling with laughter.

Wednesday's were usually a calm day. Nobody liked doing business on a Wednesday, so I usually spent the day being a vegetable. I had not planned to wake up this Wednesday with a informant living with me. An informant who was now lying on the ground in some sort of mortification, with her best friend rendered speechless with laughter.

I left them to it, strolling back inside to check out what groceries Bella had brought.

She had purchased a lot.

_How the hell did she carry all this?_

I had begun to unpack when grinning Alice and Jasper walked in followed by a still blushing Bella. Alice and Jasper sat down on the spare bar stools, while Bella joined me in the unpacking of the load.

"Did you really need to buy this much food?"

"Yes. Have you even looked in your fridge Edward?"

"Beer and Chinese, Edward, beer and Chinese." Jasper chuckled behind me, repeating his earlier statement.

"How much did it cost?" Rolling my eyes at Jasper.

"The same amount as my rent."

"What? You don't- I don't- No. Bella, no. What the hell is the time?" Bloody hell, I hadn't been this flustered since I woke up after Emmett's last birthday party. And that was about as confusing as it got.

"Wow Bella. He hasn't this discomposed since he woke up half naked covered in toothpaste."

"Thank you Jasper." I glared at Jasper, as he sat there with the biggest shit-eating grin possible.

Bella and Alice traded looks of disbelief before howling with laughter.

"It's okay Edward. At least you didn't spit on some poor innocent stranger from a five storey building." Alice choked out before dissolving back into laughter. This time Bella didn't join her, instead groaned, gradually turning pink with embarrassment again.

The pink contrasted with the dark purple that now surrounded her eye. The swelling had gone down substantially, just leaving a deep pink bruise on the cheekbone. Her eyes, so dark in the night, were brighter, framed by naturally long dark lashes. Her hair was untamed, waving artlessly down her back to her waist, framing her face. Her t-shirt was fitting to her curves, but gave nothing away of the flat, pierced stomach that was on show only twelve hours ago.

Noticing I was staring she raise one eyebrow in question.

"How's the face?" I asked.

"Better off that your hand." She pointed out. She was right, my two large knuckles had swollen to twice the size, one of them scabbing over.

"Forgot to ice it?" Bending over to grab a ice pack out of the freezer. _She had a nice arse too. _ She wrapped it in a hand towel and passed it to me.

"I don't own..."

"I do. I own three. I chucked them in last night after I had a shower." I didn't remember that.

"Bella has the ability to walk across a smooth, flat surface and trip. Factor in stairs, inanimate objects, rough surfaces..." Alice threw in.

"I'm practically disabled." Bella nodded in a sad agreement.

"That's why you lap-dance, not pole-dance?" Jasper frowned curious.

"Yes." She replied with a sigh.

"Why _are_ you exotic dancers?" Jasper voiced the question that had been playing on my mind on loop.

Bella and Alice just looked at each other, neither answering. After an uncomfortable minute of silence, Bella shook her head. "That's a story for another day."

"Which brings us back to the story we are here to tell you." Alice's voice was sharp.

Jasper and I both stiffened, both have forgotten the real reason they were here. They seem to belong here, interacting with them as easy as if we had been doing it for years, not hours.

Bella let out a sad sigh. "Is there anyone else you want to let in on this, I don't want to have to tell the story twice."

"Emmett and Rose?" Jasper questioned me.

I shook my head. They wanted out, so there was no point of bringing them in deeper.

Bella moved over to the couch, curling her legs under her. Alice and Jasper followed, sitting on a couch opposite from hers, next to one another.

I moved slowly, grabbing a beer out of the fridge.

I suddenly felt on guard, cautious and panicky. Bella's expression was not doing anything to reassure me. Bella turned facing Alice for comfort. Without warning, I felt the need to join Bella on her couch. I stuffed down the new and foreign feeling as Bella took in a deep breath to began.

"First. I would like to apologise to Alice."

"You held out on me."

Bella nodded. Alice, it seemed, had known this all along. "We are safe now Bella." She whispered. The edginess was resurfacing in me at the tone of Alice's voice. Jasper felt it too and grabbed hold of Alice's small hand as reassurance. I moved to sit on the lone chair near the couch Bella sat.

Bella turned to face me and began.

"Five months ago...."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the cliff hanger; the whole next chapter (it's a rather short chapter) is Bella's flashback. Techincally, I am four chapters ahead, but I only ever post a chapter when I've completed writing the next one (I just finished chapter 8 today), but it means that as the chapters get harder to write I can go back and link them up and fill in blanks. So I'm sorry I don't update very quickly.**

**I didn't like this chapter much, but I felt I had to kinda show you how strange the relationships between the four characters are and introduce their personalities to you.**

**If you didn't like it, thanks for at least giving this story a chance.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Owner of nothing but my imagination.  


* * *

Bella's Flashback**

"He's back."

And so he was, waiting on his usual chair.

"Ah. Sorry Seth, time to party." I interrupted the new bartender. He was young, probably under aged, but the rumour was Sam dated his sister before pissing off with the cousin. Their families were still close.

Seth looked just like a rest of Sam's crew; dark skin, black hair, deep brown eyes. Of Native American descent. Seth unlike the rest of them only had kindness in his eyes.

Seth grinned. "Only twenty minutes on the clock Bells, then your free."

I waved goodbye, strolling toward the young dark haired beauty. While most men can't be described a beautiful. Vasilii was different. High cheekbones, long black lashes, light blue eyes, quick for a smile. Must be of European descent, Spanish or Italian most likely, but he had nothing but an American accent and passport to his name

"Been a while Vasilii, I was starting to think you found someone better than me." I pouted. His name too was foreign; Russian.

He threw back his head with a laugh, eyes crinkling with mirth. "There ain't no one better than you Belly." Vasilii was the only one who could get away with calling me Belly.

"_Yeah, you better believe it. She nearly ripped the testicles off-" _

"_Alice, don't interrupt."_

He wanted the usual, fifteen minutes. It's always easier to get lost in your own thoughts with regulars. You know what you want, they know what to expect. No problem, no thought. But this night he was different. Something was playing on his mind.

"_How can you tell?"_

"_If they can't get it up fast enough-"_

"_Jasper, Alice, shut it, this is hard enough for Bella as it is." _

Fifteen minutes flew by and I sat down on his lap, straddling him. His expression gave nothing away_. _

"What's up Vasilii?"

His grin grew wider, looking down to his lap, then slowly raising his eyes back to my face. Funny man. I rolled my eyes knowing he wouldn't be able to see.

"Come on, you know what I mean. Where you been?"

Vasilii was unlike most customers I had. He had never disrespected me and when talking maintained eye contact instead of staring at my breasts.

He took in a big sigh. "My mom's just past away. It's been tough." He gave a half shouldered shrug.

Of course, Bella you idiot. I knew who his ma was; Sasha Denali. Owned a large lawyer firm, aptly named Denali Solicitors. There wasn't a person in this city that didn't know who she was. I also knew she didn't just 'past away'; she was murdered. It was a massive case. The news never said much, which meant the police didn't have much. I didn't mention anything about this out loud of course.

"Sorry to hear that," climbing off his lap as I spoke. He stood up and reaching out his hand towards me to slide a fifty in the black lacy bra top. He wasn't very tall, 5"9 maybe 5"10. In my heels I was close to eye-level.

"See you around Belly." The lights from the stage suddenly brightened as the next act came on. His eyes were sad. He turned and walked off.

"Take care!" I walked back to the bar where Seth and Quil were talking. I removed the note, adding it to my small tip pile of the night before replacing it back into my shorts.

"Hey Bells! Catch him before he leaves, he didn't pay me!" Quil shouted, pointing to Vasilii's retreating figure. I rolled my eyes at his slackness, turning to follow quickly after. Vasilii did this often. Some things never changed no matter what the situation was.

Vasilii was heading to the back door taking him into the alley, past Sam's offices. You'd think this was kinda out of bounds, but Vasilii was well known, probably too big for his boots most of the time. He got away with stuff most people didn't. Reaching the hallway I heard more than one voice. Shadowed outlines of people crowded around Vasilii's dark figure. The bass was too loud for me to recognise voices, the hallway too dark to even define them as humans and I didn't want to interrupt. I'll get nowhere interrupting. Instead I waited around the corner, back to the wall surveying the club. It wasn't a busy night. It was never busy on a Tuesday.

I popped my head around the corner. The voices and the shadows had gone. I didn't hear the squeak of the back door that lead into the alleyway and that door was never silent. There was a dim glow near the end of the hall; Sam office. The door had a dirty frosted window.

Vasilii must have gone in to talk to Sam.

The hallway wasn't straight. I think originally the club was some sort of shop, extensions added, walls knocked down to turn it into a club. Sam had only own the place for two years, around the same time as Alice and I were hired fresh off the Vegas street. There was corner by the door of Sam's office, the side of the wall deep enough that if some one poked their head out Sam's door and looked down the hall, they wouldn't see me behind it. That's where I stood to wait for Vasilii to come out.

The walls were thin, made of some cheap plaster wood. I could hear mumbling through it. I slid to the floor, pulling my legs close to my body. Angling my head I could see a silhouette of a person in the dim square of light from Sam's office. It also positioned my head perfectly against the wall allowing me to hear every word. Convenient.

"What do you know Vasilii?" The voice was threatening.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" A voice replied, obviously Vasilii's. Distinctive, even through a wall.

"You know what I mean by that."

"He wants to know where it is Vasilii." A different voice from the first spoke.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I think Vasilii knew it wasn't a joke.

"Do we look like we're joking. Hand the files over Vasilii." Three people were in the room with Vasilii, the last voice, the one speaking of 'the files' was most definitely female.

This time there was no answer from Vasilii, instead there was a large thud followed by a pitiful moan.

"Put him the chair."

"Tie his hands, blind his eyes, muffle his mouth." Came the laughing taunt of the female. Her voice was high, almost child-like.

"Get your hands off me, you-" _Crack._ Then an unmistakable noise of a muffled scream.

"That's no way to talk to a lady. Where's the files Vasilii?"

"Alec darling, you have to take the cloth out first."

Another _crack _followed this time by a groan. The noise, 'crack,' was strangely familiar.

"Maybe we should soften him up a bit first." Alec's voice was the monotone one, no emotion or tonal difference. Completely flat. It made it all the more scary.

Another dull _crack._ Another groan.

Bones. That's the noise. They were breaking his bones, most probably his fingers. I had broken enough bones myself to recognise the sound. It wasn't a sound you forgot. They were torturing him.

"Where." C_rack._ "Are." _Crack._ "The." _Crack._ "Files."_ Crack. _ "Vasilii." _Crack. _Each word punctuated by another breaking of his fingers.

Now he only had two unbroken fingers. The thumbs perhaps? They were harder to break.

Then came a muttering. I didn't have to hear it because the female's next words cleared up any confusion.

"You _DO_ know what I'm talking about!! The _fucking_ FILES Vasilii! The _fucking_ files that your _fucking_ mother stole from our boss. That is what I'm talking about! The _fucking_ Evidence Files! Where the _fuck _are they!?"

"I..." Came a panting slow voice, dripping with pain. "Don't-"

This time, a sickening _crunch_. This time they didn't stuff the cloth in his mouth in time and he wasn't muffled. His scream pierced right through me before was cut short by a low thump. Then silence. Until this moment, I was calm, the shock keeping me in my dream like state. Reality was now crashing down around my ears.

"You knocked him out." The deep voice that spoke at the very beginning was back. "That's not going to get information out of him."

"Had to stop the scream." Alec's monotone replied.

I was shaking, adrenaline now pumping through my veins.

"Don't worry I'll wake him up." The females voice was confident. There was some shuffling around.

Then another high unnatural scream.

Even muffled by the cloth, the second scream was the most terrifying thing I had ever heard. Much worse than the first. Ever nerve in my body was standing on end. _Run, Bella, run_. I couldn't run. I couldn't move. If I could I would trip, they would catch me. They would find me and then I would be the one screaming. I could smell blood. The salty, rusty stench of blood crept under the door. The silhouette moved in the light of the office window.

Then in the darkness of the hallway, somebody else moved also.

Someone was out here with me.

Someone had heard just as much as I had.

But for this someone, the reality of the situation had a much better hold on them and their limbs were not frozen in fear as mine were.

I couldn't see them, they had to be around the corner the other side of the door. But I heard them move. Then I heard them vomit. Their biggest mistake. Not that they could help it I suppose. If my brain was function at a normal human rate, I too would have vomited. Or more probably, broken down in tears. My eyes were dry and my stomach calm.

Those in the office froze at the sound retching, all sounds of movement stilled. All that was heard was the muffed screaming and moaning from Vasilii.

It happened fast. I couldn't even close my eyes.

The door of the office smashed open, the window rattling in its frame with the force, the light from the light the room flooded the hallway and a small child-like figure, pointed a gun at the head of the retching figure.

"Get. In." She snarled, venom lining each word.

The previously retching figure stood, his tall shadow trembling. He was much taller than she.

He walked in the office.

The small shadow turned to check down the other end of the hall.

My end of the hall.

Now my eyes could shut. I refused to see my own death. This was not how I wanted to die and would therefore would remain ignorant. Every muscle in my body ached and cramped packed so tightly against the cold wall.

If she didn't see me, she would be able to hear my heart, thumping so loud in the quiet of the hall.

Then the door closed with a click.

I open my eyes. The hall was once again submerged into darkness except for the square of light projected onto the opposing wall. I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding in, my cells engorging themselves in the oxygen I had deprived them of.

I still didn't move my body from it's position. I didn't want to push my luck. That was much too close.

"Laurent Benoit. What a surprise." The deep voice was dry, emotionless over the cushioned whimpering of Vasilii Denali.

"How much do you know?" Asked the female. "Actually, no. Vasilii, how much does the information mean to you? Would the life of your friend be the asking price?"

Vasilii's whimpers neither deteriorated or increased.

"Don't tell them anything Vasilii." Laurent Benoit's voice was strong, countering the image of a quivering shadow that he was mere seconds ago.

"Okay. Now you just fucking me off."

There was no warning, just the unmistakable click of the safety switch and a gun shot. The walls vibrated with impact, a splatter of blood rained on the window of the office door. The smell of blood intensified, nearly overpowering the smell of vomit.

I had to get out. _NOW_.

I willed my limbs to move, the adrenaline having been pumped to every muscle, trembled in anticipation.

My luck it seemed hadn't quite run out yet and along came my saviours. Drunk Man One and Drunk Man Two. I hoped they got out alive.

I didn't hesitate. The sound of their combined slurred voices echoing down the hall was like the starting gun in a race.

I jumped up and ran.

I ran and I ran.

I did not stop.

I did not get caught.


	6. Chapter 6

**Glossary:**

**Donkey's Ears – Years  
Bread and Honey – Money  
Jackanorey – Story  
Fridge Freezer – Geezer  
Two-thrity – Dirty  
Wallace and Gromit - Vomit**

**

* * *

**

**Bella's POV  
**

A strange disjointed, stifled sobbing echoed around the room. The noise was confusing. Even more bewildering was the position I had managed to get myself into. I was seemly wrapped around a large warm object, muscles stiff, locked in. Sunshine and honey aroma filling my nose.

_Honey and sunshine? Oh. _

It all clicked into place. The 'warm object' I was wrapped around was Edward. The muted crying was me, muffled because my face was buried in his collarbone. My body was pressed as close as physically possible to his body, sitting on his lap, legs curled under me as I straddle him. My arms were wrapped around him, one hand in his silky hair, the other holding on tightly to the back of his shirt.

While I was thinking perfectly rationally about how I managed to get myself into this location and how to get out of it, (if I even wanted to get out of it because really, he smelled absolutely gorgeous) I was obviously in a very bad state of mind as I could not stop the sobbing. It was like an out of body experience. Although I knew I was safe, I knew that at this moment there was absolutely nothing that could hurt me, I was so very scared. And the tears wouldn't stop.

I didn't remember crawling into his lap. I don't even remember him standing up and moving over to my couch. The more I thought, the more things registered. Alice and Jasper were quiet clearly not in the room. Edward's arms were as tightly wrapped around me as mine were wrapped him, one on his large hands rubbing slow soothing circles on my back, the other was stroking my hair. There soft low noises near my ear.

I couldn't hear them, the sobs drowning out the sound.

I don't know how long it had been and I don't know how long it took, but sluggishly my weeping quieten.

"It's okay Bella. You're safe. I promise you're safe. I won't let anybody hurt you, _ever_. I will always keep you safe…" the soft noises whispered.

My mind connected back to my body. Edward was whispering in my ear, voice low and unsettled. Although I had stopped crying, he hadn't let go.

_I am safe. _

I snuggled deeper into the darkness, not wanted to let go of the warmth and the sleep quite yet. A bleary accented voice interrupted me, pulling me to the surface.

"Bella? Uh. Are you awake?"

_Holy... _

The darkness and warmth was Edward.

"Ummm. Morning?" My voice was still clogged with sleep. I didn't move. This was much too awkward to comprehend.

"No…I think it's still the afternoon." He replied hesitantly. He moved, propping himself up on one arm, inadvertently making me fall closer against him. "Are you okay?" His looked straight into my eyes. Or one of my eyes, since I hadn't yet opened the bruised one.

"Yes." I replied with absolute certainty. Because I was. I was perfectly okay.

Which was bizarre considering I was in the arms of gangster, living in the gangster's apartment, homeless and jobless, with memories of another gang's torturing and murder of two innocent people. In such that could make me most wanted on said gang's hit list.

Maybe I was deranged... I was friends with Alice, so it could explain a lot.

But whatever Edward saw in my good eye confirmed it and he smiled crookedly.

"I'm gonna get some water. Want anything?" Although I had him trapped against the back of the couch, his legs were long enough to swing over me and stand up. A manoeuvre that would have had me on my arse in a second. The loss of body heat had me shivering and I rolled into the indent that Edward left.

"Water sounds good."

He moved with the agility of a large cat. I imagined he was all elbows and knees as a teenager. I sat up grumbling, browsing around the large room I catch site of the clock. _Bollocks!_ It was four in the afternoon! I had slept for at least four hours. Missed lunch too.

I stood up walking over to the kitchen, Edward turning to me handing over an ice cold glass of water.

"Thank you."

"You didn't have to get up."

"I was gonna make something to eat actually."

"Oh right." By the bemused look on his face, I guess he wasn't kidding about never eating at home.

I started pulling up items of food. Pasta would have to do, I wasn't feeling very flash.

"Want anything in particular?" I asked, only because his hovering was putting me on edge. I was still gonna make pasta.

"You don't have to cook, I can order in..." He trailed off at the look I gave him. "I'm easily pleased." He finished grinning.

Despite many facts, an important one being knowing him for less than 24 hours, I didn't feel awkward around Edward despite being inconsolably upset on him and then sleeping next to him for four hours on a sofa. Unquestionably, I felt more comfortable around Edward than I was around any other person I have ever known, maybe excluding Alice.

"Cool. Now sit. Your freaking me out." On the over hand, I can't stand hovering, no matter who it is.

"Do you need-"

"Sit."

He walked around the island to the bar stools without another word, where he watched me pulling out items of food and pile them on the counter.

"What happened to Alice and Jasper?" I asked quietly, curiosity overriding my embarrassment.

"Alice walked out upset about half way through. Jasper followed after her. You don't remember?"

I shook my head. I was too far gone in memory lane. "Jasper followed?"

"Didn't even hesitate."

"Huh."

He cocked his head to the side and squinting at me as if to wonder how exactly I pulled the rabbit from a hat. "Huh what?" He questioned.

"Well," now unsure how to continue. I threw an onion on the counter top, pausing to think. "What's your... No. Um. How easy is it to get married in a world like yours?"

His eyes widen as the question threw him a bit, but he sat back and seriously considered the question, arms folded across his chest. I found a pot big enough for all the pasta in one of the cupboards and was filling it with water while I waited for his answer.

"Hard." His voice sounded strained. "Very hard. Why do you ask?"

"Alice and Jasper are going to get married." Edward blinked a couple times as if he was convinced his eyes were deceiving him, obviously flabbergast. "Well, not yet. And Jasper doesn't know it. But they will one day." I tried to rectify.

"Wh-What?!" He choked out.

"Alice told me so."

He shook his head trying to clear it, still looking at me as if I was the crazy one.

"Look. I know it sounds crazy. You should have heard some of the other 'predictions' she's told me. But there's two things you need to know about Alice. And remember them good."

I placed the pot on the stove, fiddling around the switch trying to turn it on. "Number One. You Can't Hide Things From Alice. She's like the Spring Cleaning conspiracy."

"What? What does Spring Cleaning have to do with Alice and Jasper getting married?!"

"Are you even listening to me? Let me finish."

"No, explain 'the Spring Cleaning conspiracy' comment."

I sighed, peeling the skin off the onions. "The Spring Cleaning conspiracy is a theory that the government keeps secret illegal black files on every US citizen. It's called Spring Cleaning because everything is brought to light and turned upside. Alice is like that, she knows stuff. She knows everything."

"Everything?"

"You query it now, but you just wait. Now, point Number Two. Do Not Bet Against Alice. It's a firm rule. Don't bet against her predictions, she's always right. Which brings me back to the previous statement. If Alice says 'I'm gonna marry that man.' The odds are. She will marry that man."

He shook his head again in disbelief, but didn't comment.

"Jasper's that man." I stated, just in case his disbelieving brain hadn't pieced it together.

He still didn't say anything.

Let him learn the hard way then.

He stared at is hands resting on the counter top I noticed his hand again. Just looking at it made me wince. I hope like heck the damage done to his hand meant more damage was done to Jacob's face. I grabbed another ice pack out of the freezer and wrapped it in a hand towel before handing it to him. He looked up startled, his sharp eyes meeting mine.

At night, his green eyes were mysterious; holding questions, demanding answers. In the daylight, they were dazzling. As if time had stopped except for Edward and I, but we were too busy gazing into each others eyes to notice. His good hand reached out haltingly, gently taking the ice pack from my own. Where our fingers grazed one another an electrical charge jumped, racing up my arm, clouding my head, making my whole body tingle.

I stepped back, turning my head back to my cooking breaking the spell, but the room was still thick with its magic. I glanced back at Edward to find him still staring at me, ice pack on his hand. He smiled his crooked grin and my heart juttered in my chest, skipping a beat. In all the romance novels I had ever read, I always found that the sentiment 'heart skipped a beat' to be the most unrealistic. But there it was, happening to me, defying science.

Edward interrupted my thoughts with a question. "You've known Alice for a while?"

"Five years."

"So you knew her while you were at University?"

I looked up searchingly up at him. He was more preceptive than Alice. How much did he know?

He answered my unspoken question. "Your twenty-five. You've known her for five years, which makes you twenty when you met her. Assuming you went straight to college after high school and minored in English literature you would have done at least two years, right? Making you twenty. Did you graduate?"

I've been dealing with stupid people for too long. I shouldn't be this surprised. "I did three years. I managed to finish my major."

"So you have a degree?"

"Bachelor of Science with Honors in Chemistry." _I think._

Edward seem to mull this information over. I resumed my pasta sauce creating. I almost dreaded what conclusions he would draw. Worse, he'll ask the stripper question again. I suppose it was a reasonable question to ask. Why was a reasonably intelligent girl with a BSc lap dancing four nights a week?

"Where did you go to University?" Of course. He probably took note of our reactions the other day. He wouldn't ask until we were ready to answer.

"Seattle."

"Nice change of scenery."

I chuckled. "I used to live in Phoenix with my mother, so actually, it's almost comforting."

"Bella." He voice took on a serious note. "What about your parents?"

"My parents?" I repeated quietly.

Edward didn't push the question. He let in hang in the air, the question weighing me down. It wasn't a story I wish to tell. While my brain ached to leave it, let him change the topic of conversation, my heart told me to take the plunge.

I took a big breath just as Edward opened his mouth to speak.

"My father died just over five years back, my second year of college. He died in a hunting accident. He was chief of Police in a small town of Forks." Edward gave a sad smile, both of us recognising the irony.

"My mother was a flake. Probably still is. They divorced when I was young. I moved in with Charlie when I was seventeen, after Renee remarried. I spent more time looking after her as a kid then she did looking after me. Don't take it the wrong way, I love my mother, she was my best friend. But I decided to give them some space. It was Phil's – my step-dad – turn to take care of her." I paused to chuck the stems off the peppers in the compost. I wondered how to phrase my next statement explaining the loss of my mother, without giving too much away. I couldn't. Screw it, if Alice wants to marry Jasper she has to tell him anyway, which means Edward has to know too.

"It was a couple months after my father's death when I met Alice. I nearly ran her over with my truck. After picking her up of the road, she declared she was gonna be my best friend. Of course, she became my best friend, and 'Don't Bet Against Alice' became my motto. But then we got in... we had a bit of a problem." Somewhere in my story, I had pasued and caught Edward's gaze. At my last sentence the stare became some what intense, his green iris' darking, and I couldn't break the stare.

I didn't really want to.

"We packed light and ran, falling off the grid. Las Vegas was where my truck broke down and so this is where we stayed. I didn't contact my mother for two years, trying to keep on the down low. When I tried to re-establish contact, she was gone, moved on. I tried to track her, but I have limited funds. So. Yeah. Two years on from that. Here I am."

Edward pondered this for a couple seconds, his eyes never leaving mine. "What about Alice's parents?"

I had to hand it to him, he didn't even question our 'problem.'

"She doesn't know, she doesn't care." That was Alice's story to tell.

Edward raised his eyebrows, but again, no probing.

"So you didn't actually meet Alice at the university."

"She wasn't a student if that's what your asking."

"When did you leave?"

"After my finals."

Edward frowned. "So. Wait. Did you get your graduate certificate?"

"Nope," I sighed. "Technically I have a degree. But I can't actually prove it. And I'm pretty sure I passed."

"Hmmm." He finally broke the stare to run his hand through his hair.

"My biggest regret. But don't think if that I was put in the same position I wouldn't do it again." I waved my knife at him, forgetting he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I changed the subject quickly before he could question me. "What about you?"

"What about me?" He asked baffled at the curve ball I'd thrown.

"What happened to your parent's? Why are you a mob boss? Do you always take strippers home to live with you?

He chuckled and interrupted, "Your the first stranger I've ever had in the apartment. Alice the second."

"Oh." I deliberated. "Thank you, I feel rather privileged."

"And so you should." He paused, his smirk diminishing. Edward ran his good hand through his messy hair again, leaning back on the stool once more, tense.

"I grew up in London, England." He began. "My father, Edward Senior, died when I was twelve. It wasn't sudden, he had been ill for a while. My mother, Elizabeth, and I moved in with her sister and her husband, Esme and Carlisle. Elizabeth didn't take my pa's death well, I was told. I never knew. Esme and Ma hid it well. And I was too immersed in my own little world to notice." He scowled down at his fists which I noticed to be clenched tight, he closed his eyes tightly and soon immersed himself in memories.

"Although Carlisle and Esme were reasonably well off, but the area they lived, was not. I was caught up in gangs 'fore I knew it. I could blag an' fight, an' I could do it well. At sixteen, I was top of the food chain, messing wid men twice my donkey's, wid more honey in me pockets than I knew what to do with."

The more he spoke and the further down memory lane he went, the thicker his accent got and the worse his grammar became. I had put my knife down, giving up on cooking to listen. His cockney slang was much more advanced than mine and he shortened most of it, having me guess what most of it meant.

"If Esme or Carlise knew what I was up ta, they didn't say nuffin'. Ma questioned me once, but I just gave 'er the old jackanorey they all told. Ma's depression was gettin' worse, but I neva noticed nuffin'. I was nought but eighteen I found 'er in the bathroom, Wallace and Gromit all over the show mixed in wid blood. I 'ad to call it in. And the coppers took me aside and everything. Of course it was suicide. Fucking suicide." His head was in his hands with remorse, his voice thick with guilt. He blamed himself for her death.

I didn't think, I just walked over to him, pulling him into my arms, resting my head on his chest. He laid his cheek on my head and let out a small sigh, wrapping his arms around me.

"Esme and Carlisle decided I couldn't stay and we picked up sticks movin' to the US." He spoke quietly, his chest vibrating with each word, his warm breath tickling the top of my head.

"A new beginning they called it. An' we moved to Chicago, but my two-thirty dealin' never stopped. The older I got, the smart I grew. I met Jasper there and when we got too far over our heads, we 'ad to bail and come 'ere. We met Emmett and our dealin's got bigger. Rosalie joined and we got faster. Then the next damn thing you know, we're caught in some piss up with this dodgy Volturi fridge and a fuck load of blood on our hands." He finished his story angrily. I wasn't hundred percent sure what he meant by it, but it was obvious he was very involved with this Vasilii... thing. It would explain a lot of things. Like me being here for one.

"I'll tell you sweet, once this is over, I'm getting out of 'ere. Far, far out."

_Sweet?_ I brushed it off, my heart giving a strange ache. He must be thinking of something else.

_Or somebody else. _My traitorous brain smirked.

He stopped talking, sinking into thoughtfulness. He didn't relax his arms from arms me. And I found myself not wanting him to.

_Oh Alice. What have we got ourselves into?_

Alice's giggling voice echoed through my head answering me; "w_e are safe_."


	7. Chapter 7

**Glossary:**

**Heist – A robbery  
Nailed – Caught by the police  
Knockover – A heist  
Yank – An American  
Chancer – A individual who pushes their luck  
Grifter – A con man  
Fair Play – Commenable/Acceptable Behaviour  
Soup-job – To crack a safe using nitroglycerine  
Clean Sneak – An escape leaving no clues  
Rake – A large amount of something  
Peter-man – A safe-cracker who uses nitroglycerine  
Wheel-man – A getaway driver  
Chevy Chase - Face**

* * *

**Edward POV:**

I didn't have many friends. Emmett called me an 'anti-social git', Rosalie only thought me of over-cautious. Jasper trusted less people than me, so he never had much to say on the subject. But the truth of the matter was, I trusted about as many people as I had fingers. Those I trusted, I had respect for. The two people I held above all; Carlisle and Esme.

"Is this a good idea? She now knows everything about you Edward. The Volturi would pay very good money for what she now knows." Although he meant it well on the subject of Bella, his words angered me more than I could explain. I think he realised how hard it was for me to trust anyone and while he rarely said anything on the matter, Esme said enough for the both of them.

What pained me the most about my lifestyle, was the inevitableness of bringing innocent people, such as Carlisle and Esme, into it. Together, they have been through thick and thin with me, refusing to be left out of any of it. Although they wouldn't call themselves part of 'Olympia', they were in deep as I was when it came down to it. Carlisle Cullen is good friends with the Denali's, is well known within the Volturi. Well known within most gangs in fact. He is the Switzerland of the underworld. He was untouchable.

I felt obliged to tell him about any change made, any problems, any gossip. Bella, with her talent for trouble, came under all three categories. She also happened to live in the same building as them, so he would have found out anyway.

"Carlisle, she's an informant. The information she has against _them_ will get her killed. She's not stupid. She's living with me, so I can keep her safe. And Alice lives with Jasper, so he can keep her safe." Trying to reassure him while defending Bella was more difficult than I imagined.

Carlisle just stared me down. He was still young, stray grey hairs doing nothing to tint his full blonde head of hair. His eyes were a light blue, slight creases at the corner which will in old age become crows feet.

"I still can't believe she's living with you." I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't have a choice."

"Oh bull. I'm sure there are loads of other options."

"Jasper and I agreed it was the best choice."

"You love her." It was a question, it wasn't statement and it sure as hell wasn't what I was expecting him to say. He paused in his potato peeling to stare at me.

"I've only known her for a day! I can't just be _in love _with her!" I argued my annoyance flaring up, while trying to mentally connect the dots. Carlisle just chuckled and shaking his head, getting back to his potatoes.

"So when can I meet her?" He asked ignoring my outrage, not even looking up from his bleedin' potatoes.

"Meet who?" Esme floated in with an pile of laundry, her beautiful face scrunched up in confusion.

"His little twist and twirl."

"Edward has a girlfriend!?" Esme dropped the basket of laundry on the floor, spinning around to face me. She had the same eyes as my mother. The same eyes as me.

"Jesus, no-"

"She's a lapdancer, an informant, that living with Edward, so he can keep her safe. He's fallen for her."

"I haven't bloody-"

"OOOOOooo! What's her name!? Can we meet her?!"

"Bella, Esme-"

"Bella! What a lovely name. She can come over to dinner tonight. Emmett and Rose, Jasper…"

"And an Alice apparently." Carlisle continued, smug.

"Jasper has a girlfriend too!? How lovely! Yes, invite them all over for dinner!"

"No!" They both looked at me in surprise. Hell, even my tone caught _me_ by surprise. "Just no. Not yet. And she's not my girlfriend. I _haven't __fallen _for her." I direct that argument at Carlisle. "Bella is an informant. She's living with me because she's a homeless, lap-dancing informant." I tried to explain, hating the picture I painted of Bella. I toned my voice down to apologise, "I'm sorry Esme, I didn't mean to be-"

"No, it's fine love. Anyway, you have work? I'll catch you later." She stretched up on her tip-toes to give me a kiss on the cheek, before picking up the basket of laundry and strolling out of the room humming. Esme was too nice, always forgiving, never one to push a subject, always happy to please.

"I feel like I've disappointed her." I commented sadly.

Carlisle chuckled. "She's fine, she just wants grandchildren out of you." He froze realising his slip.

"I'll keep that in mind and ship them off to Nana and Poppa's whenever they annoy me." I grinned, trying to reassure him. It warmed my black heart whenever Carlisle or Esme made the slip that they thought of me as their child. Unfortunately, the likeliness of me having children was slim. It was one thing to actually escape this life I had made myself, another to actually find a woman who would love someone like me.

"I have to go, got a meeting with the Irish."

Carlisle smiled back before returning his attention to the peeling. "Have fun. I'll see you later Edward."

"Bye."

I opened the front door to let myself out to find a Jasper standing in the hall waiting. His hair was a mess, clothes rumpled, hat in hand. As usual, he looked like he just rolled out of bed. Except for his eyes. His light brown eyes were wide awake.

"Edward, what's the plan?"

I hadn't seen Jasper since Bella's story, so no doubt he has been mulling it over ever since. I started walking down the hall to the elevator, Jasper walking quietly beside me, steps soft, his clothes barely making a noise.

"I have things to do first and we'll talk about it when we get back."

"Eurgh. More business deals?"

"Yes, as it is accentually our jobs."

"Your job. My job is to stand around and look pretty."

"And you do it so well."

_'Ding' _chimed the elevator in agreement. I stepped in trying combing my hair flat while looking in the elevator mirror. I pressed the down button. Jasper shoved the hat on his head.

"How's Bella?" He asked softly, easily heard in the silence of the elevator. Private elevators don't have music.

"Better now. Alice?"

"Fine. Worried, but fine. She's spending the day with Bella watching crappy chick flicks on your fuck-off television."

"'Fuck-off' as in big, right?" He and Emmett made me buy the useless thing, so there was no excuse for him to start insulting it.

"No, 'fuck-off' as in colossal."

The elevator slide to a halt and I stepped out into the concrete environment. The air was hot and sticky. As much as I loved the sun and the heat, the stickiness I could do without. I clicked the unlock button on the keys and Jasper groaned when he heard which car bleeped in reply.

"The Volvo? Really Edward? You have like what, seven more cars to choose from. But no. It's the stinkin' Swedish-mobile you pick."

"It's low key Jasper."

"It has be the only Volvo in Vegas."

"Why is it that whenever you met a girl you like, you begin to exaggerate everything?"

"That's bullshit."

"No, it's true. You blow everything out of proportion."

"Now your exaggerating."

"Seriously, every idy-widy girlfriend makes you suddenly falsify everything you say."

"Alice isn't my girlfriend."

_Ha. Gotcha. _

"Who said anything about Alice?" I smirked at him.

"Fuck you." He slid into the silver Volvo shutting the door with a childish slam.

_One point to Mr Edward Cullen._

I followed him in, turning the car on, cranking up the air conditioning. Bella was right, or maybe I should say Alice was right. Because Jasper never got annoyed with me teasing him about his girls before.

_You never got annoyed with Carlisle talking about your girls before._

I pulled out quickly, getting angry at my own brain. Rightly so too. I can't get this attached to her._ When the coast is clear, she's gone. Set loose back into the world of exotic dancing on clumsy feet and big doll eyes to charm any unexpected males._

This thought made me even more angry. I had to change the direction of my thoughts.

"We're meeting Emmett and Rosalie down at the Four Queens."

"I hate that place."

"You hate most casinos." Mentally rolling my eyes.

"Who are we to met?"

"Siobhan."

"What? From the Irish Mob?"

"Yep. They decided to pop over the pond for a visit."

Jasper whistled. I didn't like getting involved with the Irish Mob. Or any other mob for that matter, but I had respect for Siobhan and would give the her decency to talk.

We pulled up to the valet in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I slapped the keys in the valet's hand, along with a twenty dollar tip and walked into the large air conditioned casino, Jasper following close behind me.

The casino was alive with the noise of clinking of coins. The carpet was standard, 1970's crazy orange and red pattern, lit by the flashing lights of the slot machines. The ceiling tall in the middle of the room, a balcony of a the second story overlooking the main floor. It wasn't incredibly busy being only early afternoon on a Thursday, but there was enough people to generate a lot of noise. We made our way to the back, trying to find a staircase that would take us up to the second story.

"Mr Masen?" chimed a voice. I stopped and pivoted towards her.

She was small and looked too young to be even allowed in here. Immaculately dressed in a plain, shapely black dress and black heels. Bright red ringlets of wild hair hung to her shoulders, a direct contrast to her neat attire.

"My name is Maggie. Please follow me upstairs, Siobhan's waiting. I'm sorry we called you on such late notice. We had some problems."

Her accent was surprisingly heavy and her words were twisted, but otherwise she seemed to have good intentions.

I nodded politely, not trusting myself to speak just yet and followed after her. I caught site of Jasper's expression and had to hold down laughter. I guess Texans don't see much Irishmen, or women for that matter, yet alone hear them.

The second storey was carpeted with a rich plush red, chandeliers lighting the green poker tables opposed to the slot machines. We were lend to a back corner, where there was a door to a private room.

I took a glance around the room, noting people and places. Emmett sat at the table across from Siobhan, laughing and talking. Rosalie beside him, sipping at a glass, her eyes wandering around the room. Alistair was stood behind them, leaning against the wall, seemingly relaxed, smoking a cigar. Behind Rosalie was Randall, who was just generally doing his job of looking tough. Siobhan and her 'mob' were outnumbered by us, a tall male standing behind her, his face tight despite the relaxed atmosphere and Maggie who took a seat beside her.

Siobhan was a large woman, and while relaxed and gentle in appearance, she was a sharp and violent person. She wasn't just respected, she was feared.

"Edward!" She stood up at the sight of me and walked over kissing both of my cheeks. I had known Siobhan since I was a boy mucking around in the gutters of East London. She hadn't changed much.

"Siobhan, it's been a while." I took a seat next to Emmett, Jasper joining Alistair at the back wall.

"Too long Edward. How is Carlisle?" I winced internally.

"Same old, same old. But lets cut to the chase Siobhan. Why you here?"

Siobhan grinned and leaned forward on her elbows. She didn't take offence to my bluntness.

"Fair play. I'm looking to do a heist."

I sat back in my chair waiting for an explanation. I didn't do many robberies nowadays, there was easier ways of obtaining cash, faster, with less risk of being nailed.

"A casino knockover."

"No."

"Hear me out Eddie 'fore you decide. Back in Dublin, a little Yank got tangled in our web. A fucking chancer, he was. He says to us, there's this casino in Vegas that he does the security for. Gives us codes, blueprints, the works."

"How do you know he ain't just a grifter."

"Don't insult me Edward."

"I don't like it."

"It's a soup-job. It'll be a clean sneak."

"How much?"

"A rake."

"What do you want from me?"

"I need a peter-man and a wheel-man."

"I'll ask around. I can't just get people like that," clicking my fingers to emphasise. I was annoyed that she even got me considering it. "When you planning, how much is the split?"

"You agree and I'll enlighten you."

I stood up, taking my leave. If this was all she wanted, I would be thankful and would take my leave now. Emmett and Rosalie followed suit. "Five days time, here four o'clock. I'll think it over and get back to you. Get out of state until then, don't let me see your Chevy Chase's around 'ere. I 'ave other business to attend to." Talking to Siobhan had me slipping back into my old speak unconsciously.

Siobhan stood up, forever surprising me with her grace undeterred by her large form. I walked over to her and took her knuckles, kissing them lightly. Politeness goes a long way.

"Until then?" I questioned.

"Five days time, four o'clock." She nodded in agreement.

"It was a pleasure to met you Maggie." Smiling at her, she grinned back. I nodded to the male, who hovered protectively behind Siobhan, and left. I walked quickly out of the casino, flanked by Jasper and Emmett.

I spoke quickly to Randall. "I want you here next week." He nodded once in understanding and slipped off down the street.

Reaching the valet, I turned to Rosalie and Emmett. Alistair had unsurprisingly had slipped off.

"Twilight."

I took the keys off the waiting valet, who had retrieved my car faster than I expected. I tipped the valet again and hopped in the car without waiting for a response. Jasper was just as fast and had slid in quickly, buckling his seatbelt as I pealed off down the street.

"Rose wants in. You could practically feel the excitement rolling off her." Jasper commented.

"I know. And no doubt Eleazar would agree to do peter-man too."

"Then what's the hold up?"

"The Volturi, for one. Alice and Bella, for another."

Jasper hummed in a thoughtful agreement, before lapsing into silence.

I pulled into the club parking, the front looking rather sad and neglected in the day light. Emmett had everyone paid-off and fired the other night. He was still looking at contractors to look around and fix it up, so at the moment it was just as I had left it two nights ago, minus the crowd, the strippers and darkness.

Rosalie's red BMW pulled up next to mine.

"Why do you drive a Volvo, when you have freaking Vanquish in the garage?" Rosalie's low voice rang out.

"The same reason why you would steal a silver car over a yellow car of the same model. Less ostentatious." I replied bitingly. I'll take slap from Jasper over my car. But not from Rosalie.

She didn't comment, but merely shrugged her shoulders in response.

Emmett lend the way down the back alley, pulling a string of keys out of his pocket, flicking through them to find the right one.

"Ah-ha!" And the metal door open with a grating squeak, reminding me of Bella's story making me wince. Jasper's thoughts were similar to mine, his face screwed up in disgust.

The club was eerily quite, smelling of sweat and smoke. Emmett flicked on lights at a main outside the office door. I opened the door and looked around. My opinion of the room had changed vastly. I walked in slowly taking it in, placing myself in Bella's memories. I studied the chairs and the carpet, the walls and the desk, running my eyes and fingers over every surface as if to find some evidence of the Volturi involvement.

"What _are_ you doing Edward?" Emmett's concerned voice rang out.

"Sam's involved with the Volturi."

"What?"

I straightened, glaring at the chair that Laurent Benoir took his last breath in.

"I have a plan. I think I know a way to get Volturi pinned for something. It won't be much, but it'll be enough to get him out of the way." I had thought of it last night. It wasn't much of a plan. But it could work and if it was enough...

"How long will it take to work?" Jasper asked and I directed my attention to him. I just tilted my head, wondering if he would oblige or even agree with my plan.

"Oh. Fuck." Jasper sighed, clicking on to my thoughts. He must have had the same idea himself. It made me feel a little less guilty.

"I'm sorry, how long?" Rosalie questioned, her voice annoyed with being left out.

"Months." Jasper groaned.

She brightened considerably. "So does that mean I can be the wheel-man for Siobhan?"


End file.
